WASHINGTON — A huge Mega Millions jackpot is currently sitting at $977 million, and you may be wondering if some numbers are "luckier" than others.
The short answer: All combinations have the same tiny odds at winning. The chance of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302.6 million. The odds of winning smaller prizes, ranging from $1 million to $2, are significantly better.
Players often wonder if there's a strategy to it. Despite the fact that some numbers have been drawn more frequently than others, you still have the same chance of winning.
Are some lottery numbers luckier?
Statistics professor Rong Chen said in a Q&A article from Rutgers University that any combination has the same odds. Being selected in the past doesn't mean a combination is more or less likely to win: "Those numbers have the same chance of winning as any other number today."
Chen said combinations that other players are less likely to pick, like strong patterns or numbers that are too high to be a birthdate, might reduce your chances of having to share the jackpot. That doesn't make you any more likely to actually win, though.
So even though the odds are the same, we wanted to take a look at the "luckiest" numbers in Mega Millions' recent history. These totals are from the last six years — from Oct. 31, 2017 to last Tuesday's drawing — according to lottery statistics site lottonumbers.com.
Most common main numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers to be drawn on the five white balls for the past several years.
- 10: Drawn 63 times
- 3: Drawn 62 times
- 17: Drawn 60 times
- 46: Drawn 59 times
- 14: Drawn 59 times
- 31: Drawn 58 times
- 64: Drawn 58 times
- 8: Drawn 57 times
- 15: Drawn 57 times
- 38: Drawn 56 times
Most common Mega Millions numbers
Here are the 10 most common numbers for the Mega Ball since 2017.
- 11: Drawn 37 times.
- 22: Drawn 37 times
- 24: Drawn 34 times
- 18: Drawn 34 times
- 13: Drawn 32 times
- 25: Drawn 31 times
- 4: Drawn 30 times
- 9: Drawn 30 times
- 17: Drawn 29 times
- 19: Drawn 28 times
The 'loneliest' numbers
The main numbers that have been drawn the least number of times during the last seven years are 51 and 49. Those numbers have only been drawn 34 times.
As for the Mega Ball, one number holds the least-drawn spot: 8, drawn just 18 times in the past seven years. It's been more than 130 days since 8 was drawn as the Mega Ball.
While the Mega Ball number of 23 has been drawn 19 times, it's been more than 350 days since it was last drawn.
We make a great pair!
Since two is better than one, we'll look at the most common pairs for main numbers in Mega Millions.
- 10 and 20: Drawn 9 times
- 10 and 17: Drawn 9 times
- 2 and 31: Drawn 8 times
- 3 and 31: Drawn 8 times
- 3 and 58: Drawn 8 times
- 17 and 46: Drawn 8 times
- 31 and 34: Drawn 8 times
When is the Mega Millions drawing?
Mega Millions drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern.
What are the largest Mega Millions jackpots?
- $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)
- $1.537 billion Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, South Carolina)
- $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.050 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $977 million (estimated), Mega Millions, March 22, 2024
- $656 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets, from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland)
- $648 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013 (two tickets, from California and Georgia)
- $543 million, Mega Millions, July 24, 2018 (one ticket, from California)
- $536 million, Mega Millions, July 8, 2016 (one ticket, from Indiana)
What are the largest US lottery jackpots ever?
- $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, August 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)
- $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)
- $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)
- $1.348 billion Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)
- $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)
- $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, from California)
- $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)
- $977 million (estimated), Mega Millions, March 22, 2024
- $842.4 million, Powerball, Jan. 1, 2024 (one ticket, from Michigan)