The Most Common Mega Millions Numbers of All Time

It is one of the most searched lottery questions there is, so here is the straight answer, calculated from every Mega Millions drawing in our database: 3,045 draws running from September 6, 1996 through July 24, 2026, current as of late this writing on July 25, 2026.

Then we are going to explain why the all-time list, the one you will find can be misleading, and what the more honest version looks like.

The most common Mega Millions numbers of all time

And here are the most common bonus balls of all time. Note that this ball has been called different things across the game's history, and its pool has changed size more than once, so these totals carry the same caveat as the main numbers.

Why that list comes with an asterisk*

Mega Millions has not used the same set of numbers for its whole history, so all the numbers have not had equal opportunity to be drawn.

In our own data you can see exactly when the pool changed. No main number above 50 appears before May 2002. Nothing above 52 appears before June 2005. And nothing above 56 shows up until October 22, 2013, when the game expanded to 75 numbers. Numbers 71 through 75 then existed only briefly, disappearing after October 20, 2017, when the game settled into its current 5 numbers from 1 to 70 format.

So a number like 31 has been eligible in every single one of those 3,045 draws since 1996, while a number like 65 has only been eligible since late 2013. Of course the low numbers lead the all-time chart. They had a decades-long head start. Any list that ranks 1 through 70 on all-time totals is really just ranking how long each number has existed.

Every iteration of the game, era by era

Since the all-time totals blend five different versions of the game, here is the full picture broken out. Each row covers one format, with the number pool we can verify from the draws themselves, and the numbers that came up most inside that era.

Bonus pools are the sizes we can verify from the draws in each era. The current format's Mega Ball pool shrank again from 25 numbers to 24 in April 2025, so even the current row spans a small change.

That is 3,045 draws in total, and it shows how completely the leaderboard reshuffles. The number 48 dominated the 2005 era with 101 appearances, more than any single number has managed in the current format, simply because that era ran for eight years. Meanwhile 5 and 4 topped the Big Game years and have not led anything since.

The bonus ball is messier still. Its pool has ranged from 15 numbers up to 52 depending on the era. During the 2013 format there were only 15 to pick from, which is why 7 and 15 each came up 36 times in 420 draws. A number drawn from a 52-ball pool never had that kind of opportunity.

The current format, 2017 to now

Counting only draws from the current format puts every number on equal footing. It began with the October 31, 2017 drawing and covers 912 draws, and 1 through 70 have all been in the pool for every one of them.

For the Mega Ball, 22 and 24 lead with 47 appearances each, followed by 18 (44), 11 (42), and 9 (41). The Mega Ball pool did drop from 25 numbers to 24 in April 2025, so even this window covers a small change.

Is 85 versus 49 a real gap?

Across 912 draws of five numbers each, a perfectly even spread would put every number at about 65 appearances. The top number sits at 85. The bottom one, 51, sits at 49.

A 36-appearance spread sounds like a lot, but it is roughly what 912 random draws across 70 numbers produce on their own. Flip a coin 912 times and you will not land exactly on 456 heads either. Ordinary variation covers the whole distance between 49 and 85.

The balls also have no memory. Number 10 leading the current era does not make it warmer for the next drawing, and 51 trailing does not make it overdue. Every draw starts over, with the same chance for all 70 numbers. The same reasoning applies to how you choose them, which we get into in quick pick vs. your own numbers.

Is there any point to these lists?

As a way to pick numbers, yes. Choosing 10 and 17 because they have run hot works about as well as choosing birthdays or your dog's age, and it costs nothing extra while giving you something to watch for on draw night. The problem starts when someone charges money for a hot number system. There is no math behind those.

A more useful takeaway has nothing to do with hot numbers. Birthdays make 1 through 31 far more popular than 32 through 70 among players. Your chance of hitting the jackpot does not change either way, but a ticket built from higher numbers is less likely to be shared if it does hit. Same odds, fewer people to split it with.

If you want the same breakdown for the other big game, we ran it in the most common Powerball numbers of all time. And for what a ticket is really worth before you buy, see what expected value means for Powerball and Mega Millions. Current jackpots and drawing results are on our Mega Millions page and Powerball page.