The United States doesn't have one national lottery — it has 45 state lotteries (plus Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands) that jointly run the two games the world knows: Powerball and Mega Millions. Five states (Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah) sell no lottery at all. Anyone with an official ticket can win, American or not — the ticket has to be bought inside a selling jurisdiction, but the player doesn't have to be a citizen, a resident, or even in the country.
State lotteries vs the multi-state games
Each US state runs its own lottery with local draw games and scratch tickets, and the jackpots that make world news come from two multi-state games those lotteries operate together. Pooling ticket sales from hundreds of millions of players is what lets US jackpots snowball into the billions — no single-state game could fund a $2 billion prize. The state you buy in still matters: it sets your sales cut-off, whether you can buy online, some add-on options, and the state tax on any prize.
Powerball and Mega Millions: the two giants
| US Powerball | Mega Millions | |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket price | $2 (add-ons extra) | $5 (multiplier included) |
| Format | 5 of 69 + Powerball of 26 | 5 of 70 + Mega Ball of 24 |
| Draw nights | Mon, Wed, Sat — 10:59 pm ET | Tue, Fri — 11:00 pm ET |
| Jackpot odds | 1 in 292,201,338 | 1 in 290,472,336 |
| Record jackpot | $2.04B (2022) | $1.602B (2023) |
Between them the two games draw five nights a week, and neither caps its jackpot. Which suits you comes down to price, schedule and taste for add-ons — we break the differences down fully in Powerball vs Mega Millions.
Can foreigners play the US lottery?
Yes — and foreigners have won, including tourists. US lotteries pay whoever holds a winning ticket bought within a selling jurisdiction. If you're visiting, you can simply buy at any retailer. From abroad, a lottery messenger service buys the official ticket for you inside the US and scans it to your account; our guide to purchasing Powerball tickets online walks through the routes, and our country guides cover the specifics for players in the UK, India, Canada, South Africa and beyond. What a non-resident can't do is buy from a US state's own online platform, which verifies location and residency.
US lottery taxes: what winners actually keep
US lottery prizes are taxable income. The IRS withholds 24% from big prizes for US players — and 30% for non-resident winners — before the money moves, and most states take their own cut on top (a handful, like Florida, Texas and California in respect of lottery prizes, take none). Add the cash-option discount — most jackpot winners take a lump sum of a bit under half the advertised annuity value — and a $1 billion headline typically banks in the region of $300 million for a sole US winner, less for non-residents. Your own country may tax or exempt the remainder; some, like the UK, don't tax lottery winnings at all, while others treat foreign prizes as income.
Checking US lottery results
Winning numbers post within minutes of the 10:59 pm and 11:00 pm Eastern draws on the games' official sites, and our results pages carry each draw with full prize-tier breakdowns shortly after. For overseas players the practical rhythm is simple: draws happen overnight European time, so results are a morning check, and online tickets are checked automatically by the platform that sold them. Prize claims run through the state where the ticket was bought, with deadlines from 90 days to a year depending on the state.
Beyond the giants: the rest of the US lottery menu
Powerball and Mega Millions are the exports, but they sit on top of a much wider local menu. Every member lottery runs its own state draw games — pick-3 and pick-4 numbers games drawn daily, mid-size lotto games with jackpots in the hundreds of thousands to low millions, and fast keno-style draws — plus the scratch tickets that quietly account for the majority of US lottery sales. The multi-state games also carry optional add-ons that vary by state: Powerball's Power Play multiplies non-jackpot prizes for an extra $1, and its Double Play gives your numbers a second drawing in participating states. For international players the giants remain the sensible target — they're the games messenger services carry, and the ones whose prizes justify the cross-border effort — but if you're visiting the US, the local menu at any retailer is part of the experience.
One practical footnote on claiming: US prizes are paid by the state that sold the ticket, so a visitor who wins should plan around that state's claim process and deadlines before flying home — messenger-service tickets sidestep the problem, since the service manages the claim where the ticket lives.
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Frequently asked questions
Is there a national lottery in the United States?
No. Lotteries are run by 45 individual states plus DC and the US Virgin Islands, which jointly operate Powerball and Mega Millions as multi-state games. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah have no lottery.
Can a non-US citizen win Powerball or Mega Millions?
Yes. Prizes are paid to whoever holds a winning ticket bought inside a selling jurisdiction — citizenship and residency don't matter. Non-resident winners face 30% US federal withholding instead of the 24% applied to US players.
Which is bigger, Powerball or Mega Millions?
Powerball holds the all-time record ($2.04 billion in 2022 against Mega Millions' $1.602 billion in 2023) and draws three nights a week to Mega Millions' two. Jackpot odds are nearly identical, at roughly 1 in 290–292 million.
How much tax do you pay on a US lottery win?
Federal withholding is 24% for US players and 30% for non-residents, with state tax on top in most states. Combined with the cash-option discount, a sole winner of a $1 billion advertised jackpot typically banks around $300 million.