Three new millionaires emerge as the Mega Millions jackpot keeps climbing

While no one hit all six numbers, three Match 5 winners won prizes ranging from $2 million to $4 million.

Todd Betzold

News writer

Published Jul 15, 2026, 15:35 EDT

Another Mega Millions drawing has come and gone without a jackpot winner, pushing the game's top prize even higher. With no tickets matching all six of the winning numbers drawn in the Tuesday, July 14, drawing, the jackpot has officially climbed into the Top 10 biggest jackpots heading into the next drawing on Friday, July 17. While the jackpot wasn't won, the drawing still created three brand-new millionaires thanks to the Match 5 payouts.

Three tickets miss the jackpot by one number

Three lucky tickets matched the first five numbers drawn but missed the Mega Ball. While they were so close to winning the biggest Mega Millions jackpot of 2026, they still were able to turn their near misses into life-changing wins.

For last night's drawing, the winning white ball numbers were 2, 4, 10, 48, and 56, and the Mega Ball number was 22.

A ticket sold in Florida won $2 million after matching all five of the white ball numbers and having the 2X Megaplier. Then, a ticket in New Jersey won $3 million by doing the same, but having the 3X multiplier.

The biggest Mega Millions prize of the night went to a Georgia player. They also matched all five of the white ball numbers to win $1 million, but with a 4X multiplier, it increased their payout to $4 million.

Jackpot run continues

The last time the Mega Millions jackpot was won was on March 17, 2026. For that drawing, a lucky ticket in Ohio matched all the winning numbers to take home the $60 million jackpot.

Now, we have had 34 drawings without a jackpot winner. The jackpot has climbed to an estimated $672 million for the Friday, July 17, drawing. The cash option is $293.3 million.

This pushes it into Top 10 status for Mega Millions jackpots. When a winner is crowned, they will have the biggest Mega Millions jackpot win of 2026.

Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots

To see where this current jackpot run lands on the board, here are the Top 10 biggest Mega Millions jackpots of all time:

$1.6 billion – August 8, 2023, winning ticket purchased in Florida.
$1.54 billion – October 23, 2018, winning ticket purchased in South Carolina.
$1.35 billion – January 13, 2023, winning ticket purchased in Maine.
$1.34 billion – July 29, 2022, winning ticket purchased in Illinois.
$1.27 billion – December 27, 2024, winning ticket purchased in California.
$1.13 billion – March 26, 2024, winning ticket purchased in New Jersey.
$1.05 billion – January 22, 2021, winning ticket purchased in Michigan.
$983 million – November 14, 2025, winning ticket purchased in Georgia.
$810 million – August 8, 2023, winning ticket purchased in Florida.
$672 million – current jackpot run.

Since we are officially in Top 10 status, you should expect to see an increase in ticket sales. That can be seen with three Match 5 winners last night, so we could see even more millionaires created on Friday night.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.