The Powerball jackpot is $674,000,000, but the cash option is $283,900,000 — and federal tax takes 37% of that. If you bought the ticket in a state with no income tax, you keep about $178.9M. In New York, about $148M.
Calculate your take-home
What you actually keep from the current jackpot
Two numbers get confused constantly: the advertised jackpot and the cash value. The advertised number is a marketing total — 30 payments stretched over 29 years. The cash value is what sits in the prize pool today. You can only take one of them, never both.
| Step | No state tax (FL, TX, WA…) | New York |
|---|---|---|
| Advertised jackpot (annuity) | $674,000,000 | $674,000,000 |
| Cash value (42% of advertised) | $283,900,000 | $283,900,000 |
| Federal tax at the 37% bracket | −$104,988,856 | −$104,988,856 |
| State tax | $0 | −$30,943,879 |
| You keep (lump sum) | $178,899,944 | $147,956,065 |
| You keep as a share of the headline | 26.5% | 22.0% |
Single filer, standard deduction, 2026 federal brackets. Your own filing status and other income move these numbers by a few percent, not by millions.
Why the cash value is only about 42% of the headline
Powerball does not hold $674,000,000 in a vault. It holds the cash value and buys Treasury-backed securities that will fund 30 payments, each 5% larger than the last. When interest rates are high, those securities cost less, so the same cash supports a bigger advertised number — which is why the ratio moves.
Across 2026 draws the cash value has run between roughly 41% and 46% of the advertised jackpot. A $1.8 billion headline in September 2025 had a $826.4 million cash option, about 46%. The $674,000,000 headline today has a $283,900,000 cash option, about 42%. Anyone quoting a fixed “52%” rule of thumb is working from an older rate environment.
The 24% withholding trap
When you claim, the lottery withholds 24% for federal tax. That is not your bill — it is a down payment. Lottery winnings are ordinary income, and a jackpot clears every bracket up to 37%, so on a $283,900,000 cash value you owe about $104,988,856 federally, of which only $68,133,312 was withheld.
The difference — roughly $36,855,544 — is due at filing, plus state tax. Winners who spend against the first check without setting that aside are the classic cautionary tale, and it is avoidable: set the balance aside the week the money lands, or make an estimated payment.
What your state takes
Thirty-seven of the 46 jurisdictions tax a jackpot; nine take nothing. The spread is enormous — from $0 in Florida to over $30.9M in New York on the same ticket.
| State | Rate on a jackpot | Take-home (lump sum) |
|---|---|---|
| California | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Florida | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Texas | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Washington | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Tennessee | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| South Dakota | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Wyoming | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| New Hampshire | 0% | $178,899,944 |
| Pennsylvania | 0% | $178,899,944 |
Nine no-tax entries above; see all 46 jurisdictions or the full state rate table.
Lump sum or annuity?
On paper the annuity wins: $674,000,000 before tax versus $283,900,000 in cash. After tax the annuity still totals about $426.1M in a no-tax state, against $178.9M for the lump sum. The catch is 29 years of waiting and 30 separate tax bills, each exposed to whatever rates exist then.
Taking the cash means you must beat 5% annual growth, after tax, for three decades to match. That is achievable with a boring index portfolio, but it requires discipline most people do not sustain after a windfall. The year-by-year payment chart shows exactly what each of the 30 cheques looks like.
If you won today: the first 48 hours
- Sign the ticket on the back and photograph both sides. An unsigned ticket is a bearer instrument.
- Put it somewhere safe — a bank safe-deposit box, not a kitchen drawer.
- Call a tax attorney and a fee-only adviser before you claim, not after. The claim form is where the lump-sum-versus-annuity decision gets locked.
- Say nothing publicly until you know your state's anonymity rules. Several states allow a trust to claim; others publish your name.
- Do not sign anything a stranger hands you — including offers to buy your annuity, which are almost always priced against you.
How this calculator works
We use the 2026 federal brackets for a single filer with the standard deduction, the live cash-value ratio from the official draw data, and each state's top marginal rate as published by its Department of Revenue. Where a state taxes its own lottery at zero — California and Pennsylvania — we use zero, because that is the rule that applies to a ticket bought there.
Full assumptions, edge cases and known limitations are on the methodology page. Every state figure cites its source on the state page itself.
Questions people ask
How much is the current Powerball cash prize after taxes?
The advertised jackpot is $674,000,000 paid as an annuity. Its cash value is $283,900,000 — about 42% of the headline number. After the 37% federal bracket and no state tax, a single filer keeps roughly $178.9M. In New York the same prize leaves about $148M.
Why is the cash value so much lower than the advertised jackpot?
The headline figure is the sum of 30 payments spread over 29 years, each 5% larger than the last. The cash value is the money that has to be in the prize pool today to fund those payments, so it shrinks as interest rates rise. Right now the ratio is about 42%; it has ranged from roughly 41% to 46% across 2026 draws.
Is the 24% federal withholding my actual tax bill?
No. The lottery must withhold 24% from prizes over $5,000, but a jackpot lands in the 37% bracket. The remaining 13 percentage points are due when you file, which on a prize this size is tens of millions of dollars. The calculator above splits the two so you can see both numbers.
Which states take nothing from a Powerball prize?
Nine states tax nothing on a ticket bought there: California, Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. California and Pennsylvania do it by exempting their own lottery; the rest have no income tax.
Do I pay tax where I bought the ticket or where I live?
Both can apply. The state where the ticket was sold withholds first, and your home state taxes the income and usually credits what the other state already took. Buying in Florida and living in New York does not make the prize tax-free — it just changes who collects.
Should I take the lump sum or the annuity?
The annuity pays more in total — the full $674,000,000 before tax — but spread over 30 years and taxed year by year. The lump sum gives you $283,900,000 now, which must be invested well enough to beat the annuity's built-in 5% growth. Our lump sum vs annuity guide runs the comparison with real numbers for both.
- Powerball — official game rules, prize payment options and current jackpot
- IRS — Publication 525, taxable and nontaxable income (gambling winnings)
- IRS — Topic 419, gambling income and losses
- Tax Foundation — state individual income tax rates and brackets, 2026
- MUSL — Powerball game rules (prize payment structure)