Illinois Ticket Wins $1.04 Billion Powerball Jackpot

A single Powerball ticket sold in Illinois matched all six numbers in Wednesday night's drawing to win an estimated $1.04 billion — the largest US lottery jackpot of 2026 so far.

The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67 and 69, with a red Powerball of 9.

Lottery organizers say it is the eighth-largest jackpot in the game's history, according to NBC News. The winner has not yet come forward.

The odds of hitting it: 1 in 292,201,338.

The Money

The winner will choose between the advertised $1.04 billion paid out in annual installments or a one-time cash prize of $450.5 million before taxes — the option most winners take. Forbes describes the annuity as 30 annual payments; NBC News reported it would be paid over 29 years.

Taxes take a large bite either way. On the lump sum, a mandatory 24% federal withholding cuts the prize to roughly $342.4 million, and a federal marginal rate as high as 37% would trim it to about $283.8 million, according to Forbes.

Illinois taxes lottery winnings at a flat 4.95%, which Forbes calculated at $22.3 million on the lump sum and is withheld automatically when the prize is collected.

On the installment route, annual payments of about $34.7 million would fall to roughly $21.8 million after the 37% federal marginal rate, Forbes said.