How the Powerball annuity is paid
A Powerball jackpot winner who chooses the annuity receives one payment right away, then 29 yearly payments, each 5% larger than the last. For the current $835 Million jackpot the first payment is $12,567,948 and the last is $51,731,379, before tax, and the 30 payments add up to the full $835 Million.
The first payment is the jackpot × 5% ÷ (1.0530 − 1), about 1.505% of the jackpot; each later one is the one before multiplied by 1.05. Powerball is drawn Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the annuity works the same wherever the ticket was bought.
Powerball annuity vs lump sum
The cash option for the current jackpot is $357.9 Million, 42.9% of the advertised amount. A single winner in Texas would take home $225,527,000 from the cash, or $527,549,992 over 30 years from the annuity. To compare money paid at different times, the calculator converts the annuity into today's money at a discount rate you set (4% by default — an assumption, not a recommendation): at 4% this annuity is worth about $274,726,207 today. The break-even return is 5.41%: the cash comes out ahead only if it can earn more than that a year.
The calculator taxes every payment in its own year at 2026 rates and assumes they stay the same; future tax law may differ. For the cash option after taxes in every state, use the Powerball calculator; state rates are in lottery tax by state.
Powerball: test a different outcome
If two tickets share this Powerball jackpot, the first before-tax payment per ticket falls from $12,567,948 to $6,283,974. Tax is then calculated on each winner’s share, so after-tax amounts need not halve exactly.
| Discount rate | Annuity in today’s dollars | Compared with cash |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $527,549,992 | Annuity by $302,022,992 |
| 2% | $374,265,969 | Annuity by $148,738,969 |
| 4% | $274,726,207 | Annuity by $49,199,207 |
| 6% | $208,458,285 | Cash by $17,068,715 |
Single Texas resident, no other income; cash after estimated tax $225,527,000. All payments use 2026 tax law. No investment-return tax or future law changes are modeled. A higher discounted value does not guarantee a better personal outcome.
How Powerball prices its annuity
The cash value is the money that has to be in the jackpot prize pool on drawing day to fund the annuity. That cash buys the securities that pay the 30 installments, so the advertised annuity depends on interest rates: the higher the rates, the more the same cash can pay over 29 years, and the bigger the advertised jackpot. The annuity is not final until the Multi-State Lottery Association takes bids on the securities (Powerball FAQ). For this drawing the cash value is 42.9% of the advertised $835 Million.
Sharing a Powerball jackpot with a UK ticket
Since July 21, 2026, Powerball tickets are also sold in the United Kingdom. If the jackpot is won on both sides of the Atlantic, it is split equally among all winning tickets by cash value; the UK share is transferred to The UK National Lottery, and each U.S. ticket still chooses between the annuity and the cash on its own (Powerball FAQ). With one UK and one U.S. winner of the current jackpot, the U.S. winner's half would be $178,950,000 in cash, or an annuity starting at $6,283,974 before tax. Set the number of winning tickets under “More options” to see your share.
If a Powerball annuity winner dies
The remaining payments are not lost. Powerball pays the balance of the prize to the winner's estate, and with a court order the annual payments can continue to the heirs; the rules of the lottery that paid the prize may add other conditions (Powerball FAQ). Each payment the estate or heirs receive is still taxable income in the year it is paid.
Annuity payments for the biggest Powerball jackpots
8 Powerball jackpots have reached $1 billion. Under today's annuity rules — 30 payments, each 5% larger than the last — the first payment for these jackpots would range from $15,653,492 to $30,704,928 before tax. The cash value — what a winner gets by taking the lump sum — ranged from 43.3% of the advertised jackpot (Aug 12, 2026) to 62.0% (Jan 13, 2016). Official announcements state the winner's choice for one ticket: Tennessee (Jan 13, 2016), cash option. The others do not say.
| Drawing | Jackpot | First payment | Final payment | Cash value as % of jackpot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2022 | $2.04 Billion | $30,704,928 | $126,385,645 | 48.9% |
| Dec 24, 2025 | $1.817 Billion | $27,348,458 | $112,569,960 | 45.9% |
| Sep 6, 2025 | $1.787 Billion · 2 tickets | $26,896,914 | $110,711,347 | 45.9% |
| Oct 11, 2023 | $1.765 Billion | $26,565,783 | $109,348,365 | 43.9% |
| Jan 13, 2016 | $1.586 Billion · 3 tickets | $23,877,597 | $98,283,425 | 62.0% |
| Apr 6, 2024 | $1.326 Billion | $19,958,203 | $82,150,669 | 46.8% |
| Jul 19, 2023 | $1.08 Billion | $16,255,550 | $66,910,048 | 51.7% |
| Aug 12, 2026 | $1.04 Billion | $15,653,492 | $64,431,898 | 43.3% |
Payments are worked out with today's annuity rules for the whole jackpot, before tax; older jackpots may have been paid on the schedule in force at the time, and a shared jackpot is split between the winning tickets. Jackpot and cash amounts from official Powerball announcements, listed with sources on the largest jackpots page.
Common questions
How much is the first Powerball annuity payment?
For the current $835 Million jackpot, the first annuity payment is $12,567,948 before tax. A single winner in a state with no income tax would keep about $7,967,807 of it after federal income tax. The second payment, a year later, is $13,196,346.
Is the Powerball annuity taxed all at once?
No. Each payment is income in the year it arrives. For the current jackpot, federal tax on the first payment of $12,567,948 is about $4,600,141, and on the final payment of $51,731,379 about $19,090,611, for a single winner with no state income tax. State tax, where it applies, is also paid year by year.
What is the Powerball annuity worth in today's money?
For the current jackpot, the after-tax annuity of a single winner with no state tax is worth about $274,726,207 today at a 4% discount rate, or $208,458,285 at 6%, against $225,527,000 from the cash option. Set your own rate under “More options”.