United States (multi-state)

Powerball expected value — is it ever worth playing?

Ticket price versus the sum of prize × probability, adjusted for tax and the jackpot-sharing penalty. Enter the current jackpot and see the honest number.

No current jackpot on file for this game — enter the advertised figure from the operator's site below.

US prizes over $5,000: 24% federal withholding, plus state income tax in most states.

Break-even jackpot: at the tax and sales figures entered, EV per ticket reaches zero at a jackpot of about $490,936,628 (the advertised minimum is $20,000,000). Two catches: sales — and therefore sharing — rise sharply with the jackpot, and a positive expected value still says nothing about variance or ruin. See why even a +EV jackpot usually isn't worth chasing.

Sources

Last verified: 2026-08-29