--- title: The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Now at a Record-High $868 Million. Here’s When You Need to Buy Tickets description: 'The drawing for the highest Mega Millions jackpot ever is Friday: $868 million. It would be the second largest U.S. lottery grand prize.' authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2018-10-17T15:23:28.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T11:03:26.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - Lottery - Mega Millions word_count: 272 canonical: https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Two Multi-State Lotteries Each Offer Over $400 Jackpots](https://img.money.com/2018/10/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-900956690.jpg) *Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets.* When the Mega Millions numbers were drawn on Tuesday night, no one claimed the grand prize of a whopping $667 million. That insane total would have been the [highest Mega Millions jackpot](http://www.megamillions.com/history-of-the-game) in history. But because no one picked all six Mega Millions winning numbers correctly, the next drawing on Friday will feature an even bigger grand prize: an all-new record high [Mega Millions](https://www.lottery.net/mega-millions) jackpot estimated at $868 million. Mind you, while this week's drawing could result in the highest Mega Millions jackpot winner ever, it wouldn't be the biggest U.S. lottery prize in history. In January 2016, the Powerball jackpot hit [nearly $1.6 billion](https://money.com/what-was-the-biggest-powerball-jackpot-in-history/), making it the biggest Powerball jackpot in history, as well as the highest lottery grand prize in the U.S. ever. This week's Mega Millions jackpot, which is currently estimated at $868 million, could soar higher by the time of the drawing. The sum would be the second-largest lottery grand prize in U.S. history. ## When Is the Next Mega Millions Drawing? Mega Millions drawings take place on Tuesdays and Fridays. The next Mega Millions drawing will happen on Friday, October 19, at 11 p.m. ET. To check the latest Mega Millions winning numbers, go to [lottery.net](https://www.lottery.net/mega-millions/numbers) or [megamillions.com](http://www.megamillions.com/winning-numbers). Mega Millions is a lottery that's available in [44 states](http://www.megamillions.com/where-to-play), plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets start at $2 each, and there are nine different ways to win prizes — ranging from $2 to the jackpot. The overall odds of winning some kind of prize with Mega Millions are 1 in 24, while the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Making Money", "item": "https://money.com/making-money/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Now at a Record-High $868 Million. Here’s When You Need to Buy Tickets" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/", "name": "The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Now at a Record-High $868 Million. Here’s When You Need to Buy Tickets", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2018-10-17T15:23:28.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T11:03:26.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Now at a Record-High $868 Million. Here’s When You Need to Buy Tickets", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2018/10/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-900956690.jpg", "width": 3000, "height": 2056, "caption": "Two Multi-State Lotteries Each Offer Over $400 Jackpots" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2018-10-17T15:23:28.000Z", "description": "The drawing for the highest Mega Millions jackpot ever is Friday: $868 million. It would be the second largest U.S. lottery grand prize.", "abstract": "The drawing for the highest Mega Millions jackpot ever is Friday: $868 million. It would be the second largest U.S. lottery grand prize.", "@id": "https://money.com/mega-millions-highest-jackpot-drawing/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T11:03:26.000Z", "wordCount": 272, "keywords": [ "Lottery", "Mega Millions" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Income", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income" ] } ] } ] } ```