Every once in a while, the Powerball Lottery gets to an exorbitant height.  Now it’s that time again as the jackpot for the Powerball drawing tonight is at $500 million.  Of course, the Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands so we won’t go into how much the odds are against you because we don’t want to discourage you from playing.  But if you are one of the many playing tonight, you may be curious to know what your pay out will be in your state.  For some of you, you have the luxury of not having a state lottery tax while others get taxed at more than 8% after the federal tax of 25%.  Below is a breakdown of which states are good to win Powerball in, which are better and which are the best.

For those of you who live by a border, you may be more inclined to hop over the line and grab a ticket if the tax would be in your favor.  A simple phone call to our area lottery office informed me that you pay the state tax where you buy the ticket.  So since I live in Ohio and close to the Pennsylvania border, I can get an extra $20 million in my lump sum by buying my ticket in Pennsylvania (no state tax) rather than in Ohio (6% state tax).

Good

Arkansas, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina  7% State Tax = $222,632,000

Connecticut 6.7% State Tax = $223,614,200

Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Vermont 6% State Tax = $225,906,000

Idaho 7.8% State Tax = $220,012,800

Maryland 8.75% State Tax = $216,902,500

Minnesota 7.25% State Tax = $221,813,500

Montana 6.9% State Tax = $222,959,400

New Jersey 10.8% State Tax = $210,190,800

New York 8.82% State Tax = $216,673,320

Oregon 8% State Tax = $219,358,000

Washington D.C. 8.5% State Tax = $217,721,000

West Virginia 7.5% State Tax = $224,269,000

Wisconsin 7.75% State Tax = $220,176,500

Better

Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, 5% State Tax = $229,180,000

Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia 4% State Tax = $232,454,000

Indiana 3.4% State Tax = $234,418,400

Michigan 4.35% State Tax = $231,08,100

North Dakota 3.99% State Tax = $232,486,740

BEST

Delaware, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington 0% State Tax = $245,550,000

All of this information and more can be found at USAMega.com where they have the breakdowns for both Mega Millions and Powerball and they change as fast as the jackpot does! Check em out!