The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $1 billion for the Christmas Eve drawing, marking the seventh-largest prize in the game's history. Strong ticket sales over the past 48 hours pushed the jackpot higher than the initially projected $944 million.

Top 10 Mega Millions Jackpots:

• $1.602B — Aug. 8, 2023 (Florida)
• $1.537B — Oct. 23, 2018 (South Carolina)
• $1.348B — Jan. 13, 2023 (Maine)
• $1.337B — July 29, 2022 (Illinois)
• $1.128B — March 26, 2024 (New Jersey)
• $1.05B — Jan. 22, 2021 (Michigan)
• $1B — Dec. 24, 2024 (Pending)
• $810M — Sept. 10, 2024 (Texas)
• $656M — March 30, 2012 (Illinois, Kansas, Maryland)
• $648M — Dec. 17, 2013 (California, Georgia)

The odds of winning are 1 in 302,575,350. For comparison, the odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 40 million, and dying in a plane crash is 1 in 11 million.

Tonight's drawing takes place at 11 p.m. EST in Atlanta. Winners can choose between:

• 30-year annuity payments totaling $1 billion
• One-time cash payment of $448.8 million (approximately $282.8 million after federal taxes)

State taxes vary from 2.5% in Arizona to 10.9% in New York. Eight states don't tax lottery winnings: California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

Most states stop selling tickets one hour before the drawing. If no winner emerges tonight, the jackpot will roll over for a 30th time for Friday's drawing.

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