Why Powerball still starts at $20 million instead of the old $40 million
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After the $847 million Powerball jackpot was won in New Jersey on November 4, the jackpot dropped back to $20 million for the next drawing. Players who remember the 2010s may remember when jackpots started at $40 million. That was the starting point for eight years, until a change made in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 25, 2020, the Powerball Product Group announced that after the next jackpot win, the game would restart at a guaranteed $20 million, with minimum increases of $2 million between drawings. Before that, it started at $40 million and grew by at least $10 million. The group said the change would keep the game supporting good causes in all 48 lottery jurisdictions. “Powerball players in many U.S. lottery jurisdictions are under shelter-in-place orders or recommendations from their governors or mayors, which have affected normal consumer behaviors,” said Gregory Mineo, then the group's chairman and director of the Maine Lottery.
About a week later the group went further, saying the advertised jackpot would be set by game sales and interest rates, with no guaranteed starting amount or minimum increase. The first reset under the new rules came on April 11, 2020, at $20 million.
| Starting jackpot | First reset at that level | Last reset at that level |
|---|---|---|
| $2 million | April 1992 | March 1994 |
| $5 million | July 1995 | October 1997 |
| $10 million | November 1997 | August 2005 |
| $15 million | October 2005 | November 2008 |
| $20 million | January 2009 | Still in use |
| $40 million | February 2012 | February 2020 |
| $20 million again | April 2020 | Still in use |
Powerball's operators haven't said publicly why they never returned to $40 million. What the results show is that the game didn't need the bigger starting point to produce huge prizes. From October 2015, when the current 1-in-292.2-million odds took effect, through March 2020, 32 jackpots were won, averaging about $341 million, and one topped $1 billion. Since April 2020, 45 jackpots have been won, averaging about $488 million, and seven topped $1 billion, including the $2.04 billion record in November 2022.
A few restarts since 2020 have come in a little above $20 million, all right after a big run. The jackpot restarted at $32.1 million after the $2.04 billion win, at $22.8 million after the $1.765 billion win in October 2023, and at $21.1 million after the $1.817 billion win in December 2025. All the other restarts in the last two years have been exactly $20 million. Powerball also added a Monday drawing in 2021, so there are now three chances a week for a run to keep building.
Mega Millions did the opposite. In April 2025 it raised its ticket price from $2 to $5 and its starting jackpot from $20 million to $50 million. Powerball stayed at $2 and $20 million. Odds and payouts for the newer game are on the Mega Millions analysis page. The Powerball analysis page tracks the new run from $20 million, and our look at how fast jackpots grow after a reset shows how long the climb usually takes.
How we did this. The March 2020 change, its stated reason, and the Mineo quote are from the Powerball Product Group's March 25, 2020, announcement, as published by the New Mexico Lottery. The move to sales-based jackpots is from the Hoosier Lottery's release on that change. The reset history, jackpot counts, and averages are from every official Powerball drawing since April 1992 in our draw database, with each restart taken as the jackpot for the drawing after a win. Mega Millions details are from its April 2025 game change.
Sources
Hoosier Lottery: Game sales and interest rates to determine advertised Powerball jackpot (2020)
Powerball: Single ticket wins $847 million Powerball jackpot in New Jersey
ABC7 New York: Price of Mega Millions ticket to more than double with promise of bigger prizes
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Powerball jackpot start at $20 million?
In March 2020 the Powerball Product Group cut the guaranteed starting jackpot from $40 million to $20 million and the minimum increase between drawings to $2 million. It said shelter-in-place orders had changed consumer behavior and the game needed to keep funding state programs.
Will the Powerball starting jackpot go back to $40 million?
There has been no announcement of a change. The jackpot reset to $20 million after the $847 million New Jersey win on November 4, 2026, as it has after almost every win since April 2020.
Did the smaller starting jackpot make Powerball jackpots smaller?
No. Since April 2020, the average Powerball jackpot won has been about $488 million, against about $341 million from late 2015 to early 2020, and seven of the game's eight jackpots of $1 billion or more came after the change.
