What Does One Powerball Number Win? Payout & Tax Guide
Match only the red Powerball and you win $4 at odds of 1 in 38. The lottery does not withhold federal tax on prizes under $5,000, but the IRS still treats winnings as ordinary income.
Every one-number outcome
| What you matched | Prize | Odds | Federal withholding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powerball only (red ball) | $4 | 1 in 38 | None — under $5,000 |
| 1 white ball + Powerball | $4 | 1 in 92 | None — under $5,000 |
| 1 white ball only | Nothing | 1 in 4 (no prize) | Not applicable |
| Just curious — no match | Nothing | About 1 in 1.3 | Not applicable |
Source: Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). Odds rounded.
Do I pay taxes on a $4 Powerball prize?
The lottery does not withhold federal tax on a $4 win because the IRS only requires automatic withholding on prizes above $5,000. That does not make the $4 tax-free. The IRS treats all lottery winnings — even a single $4 prize — as ordinary income that must be reported on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 (line 8b, "Gambling winnings") in the tax year you receive it.
State treatment varies. Nine states (California, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming) do not tax Powerball winnings at the state level. In every other state, the $4 prize is added to ordinary income at the state marginal rate. For most players the practical state tax on a $4 win is between $0 and $0.44.
How to claim a $4 Powerball prize
Retailers, not the state lottery office, pay out small prizes. Three steps:
- 1
Verify the ticket
Have any Powerball retailer scan the ticket, or check the result on the state lottery's official site. Do not sign the back of a winning ticket until you have verified the prize tier.
- 2
Cash it at any Powerball retailer
Most state lotteries authorise retailers to pay any prize at or below $599 directly in cash. Prizes above that threshold — but still under $5,000 — typically require a claims-centre form but no withholding.
- 3
Keep the W-2G threshold in mind
If you accumulate multiple wins, federal withholding is triggered at $5,000 per prize, not per year. A single $4 prize never reaches that threshold, so no W-2G is issued, but you should still keep ticket stubs for your records.
What if you matched more numbers?
Match three white balls and you cross from a $4 prize to $7. Match three white balls plus the Powerball and you win $100. The full match — five white balls plus the Powerball — wins the advertised jackpot. Use the calculator below to see how taxes change once a prize crosses $5,000 and triggers federal withholding.
Try $1M (Match 5) to see the $5,000 withholding threshold in action, or any larger jackpot to see the federal top-bracket adjustment.
Where the $4 prize sits in the prize matrix
Powerball has nine prize tiers. The two $4 tiers (Powerball only, and one white plus the Powerball) account for the vast majority of all winning tickets — overall odds of any prize are about 1 in 24.87, and the $4 tier alone explains roughly 75% of those wins.
Sources and methodology
Prize tiers and odds come from the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), the operator of Powerball. Federal tax thresholds come from IRS Publication 17 and Form W-2G instructions. State tax treatment is reviewed quarterly against Tax Foundation data. The full methodology is published at /methodology and our raw rate file at /data/tax-rates.md.
Frequently asked questions
How much do you win if you only match the Powerball?
Matching only the red Powerball number wins a flat $4 prize at odds of approximately 1 in 38. The $4 prize is the same whether you bought Power Play or not — the Power Play multiplier does not apply to the Powerball-only tier (with the rare exception of a 10x draw, which is capped to lower tiers).
What do you win for matching one white ball?
Matching exactly one white ball with no Powerball wins nothing. The smallest Powerball prize requires either the red Powerball alone, or one white ball plus the Powerball. If you matched the Powerball plus one white ball, the prize is also $4 — at slightly longer odds of about 1 in 92.
Do I have to pay tax on a $4 Powerball prize?
The lottery does not withhold federal tax on a $4 win because the IRS only requires automatic withholding on prizes above $5,000. The IRS still treats the $4 as ordinary income and expects you to report it on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 (line 8b, "Gambling winnings") in the tax year you receive it.
Will the lottery send me a W-2G for a $4 win?
No. A W-2G form is only issued by the lottery when a single prize hits $600 and 300x the wager — or any prize above $5,000 — neither of which applies to a $4 Powerball win. You still owe federal and state income tax on the $4, but you must self-report it on your annual return.
Where do I claim a $4 Powerball prize?
Any Powerball retailer in the state where the ticket was purchased can pay a $4 prize directly in cash. Most state lotteries authorise retailers to pay any prize at or below $599 over the counter. You do not need to visit a claims centre for small wins, and there is no withholding paperwork.
How do Powerball one-number odds compare to the jackpot?
The $4 Powerball-only tier has odds of about 1 in 38, while the jackpot odds are 1 in 292,201,338 — roughly 7.7 million times rarer. Overall odds of winning any Powerball prize tier are about 1 in 24.87, and the two $4 tiers together explain roughly 75% of all winning tickets.
Already played a bigger prize?
Open the full Powerball tax calculator to model federal withholding, top-bracket federal tax, and state tax on any jackpot in any U.S. state.
Related reading
- Powerball prize chartAll nine Powerball prize tiers, odds at each level, and how Power Play multiplies the payout.
- Powerball odds explainedOdds at each prize tier for the 5/69 + 1/26 matrix.
- How Powerball taxes workThe full federal + state + withholding breakdown.
- Open the tax calculatorPlug in a jackpot and state to see take-home in seconds.
- Draw historyBrowse cached winning numbers and jackpot history.