Welcome to the reference guide on Powerball statistics. This document explains every statistic we publish, how it is computed, what it can tell you and, above all, what it cannot. It is based on every official drawing since the current matrix started on October 7, 2015: 5 white balls from 1-69 and 1 red Powerball from 1-26, drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 PM ET.
Our data comes from the New York State Open Data portal, covers more than 1,400 drawings, and is refreshed automatically within the hour after each draw. Every number in this guide is live on the statistics page.
Why study Powerball statistics at all?
Let us start with the honest answer, because it frames everything else.
Statistics do not improve your odds. Each drawing is an independent random event. Every one of the 292,201,338 possible combinations has exactly the same chance, whatever happened last week or last decade.
So why bother? Three legitimate reasons:
- Structure. Winning draws share a recognizable shape (odd/even balance, high/low balance, a sum near the middle of the range). Knowing that shape lets you build plays that look like typical winners instead of statistical oddities.
- Uniqueness. Millions of players choose birthdays and patterns. The statistics show which numbers and shapes are over-played, so you can avoid sharing a prize with a crowd.
- Understanding. Knowing the real odds and the real distributions is the best protection against lottery myths and against overspending.
Keep those three in mind, and statistics become a useful tool rather than a superstition.
The expected frequency of every number
Because 5 of 69 white balls are drawn each time, every white ball has a 5/69 ≈ 7.25% chance per drawing. Over 1,400 drawings, the expected count for any white ball is about 101 appearances. For the Powerball, drawn 1 of 26, the chance is 1/26 ≈ 3.85% per drawing and the expected count is about 54.
These averages are the baseline for every "hot" and "cold" label.
Hot numbers
A hot number has been drawn more often than its expected count. Since 2015, the white balls most consistently at the top of the table have been 61, 32, 21, 63 and 69, with 36, 23, 39, 62 and 59 close behind. Among Powerballs, 18, 24, 4, 21 and 10 have led for most of the matrix's life.
Hot numbers typically sit 10 to 20 percent above the expected count. That is exactly the spread you would expect from random variation across 69 balls; there is no evidence of bias in the machines.
Use: hot numbers in the 32-69 range are especially valuable for uniqueness, because they are drawn as often as any other number but chosen by far fewer players.
Cold numbers
A cold number has been drawn less often than expected. Since 2015 the coldest white balls have included 13, 34, 49, 26 and 46; the coldest Powerballs have included 23, 15 and 12.
Cold numbers are not "bad" and they are not "about to turn." They are simply on the low side of a random distribution. Most real draws include at least one number that is cold over the long term.
Overdue numbers (gap analysis)
The gap is the number of drawings since a number last appeared. The expected gap for a white ball is about 14 drawings; for a Powerball about 26. Because the distribution has a long tail, gaps above 40 for a white ball and above 60 for a Powerball are normal; gaps above 80 and 100 respectively happen every few years.
The most important thing to understand about overdue numbers: a number with a gap of 60 has exactly the same chance tonight as a number drawn last time. Believing otherwise is the gambler's fallacy. Our guide to hot, cold and overdue numbers covers this in depth.
Use: including one overdue number per play mirrors the structure of real draws and adds uniqueness.
Frequent pairs and triplets
Some pairs of white balls have appeared together more often than others. The statistics page lists the top pairs since 2015. With 2,346 possible pairs and 1,400 draws, each pair is expected about 6 times; the leaders appear 12 to 15 times.
Pairs are the statistic most prone to over-interpretation. They are textural, not predictive. The AI Engine uses pair affinity only as a small bonus so that plays have the same "texture" as historical draws.
Odd/even split
Among the 69 white balls, 35 are odd and 34 even. From pure combinatorics:
| Split (odd/even) | Probability |
|---|---|
| 3/2 | 32.7% |
| 2/3 | 31.7% |
| 4/1 | 15.8% |
| 1/4 | 14.4% |
| 5/0 | 2.9% |
| 0/5 | 2.5% |
Two-thirds of draws are 3/2 or 2/3. Actual results since 2015 match these percentages closely.
High/low split
Low numbers are 1-35, high numbers 36-69. The probabilities mirror the odd/even table: about 64% of draws are 3/2 or 2/3, and only about 5% are all-low or all-high.
High/low matters more than odd/even for a practical reason: birthdays produce all-low plays. An all-low play is both rare (2.7% of draws) and heavily over-played.
Sum of the white balls
The sum of five white balls ranges from 15 to 335, averaging 175. About 70% of draws sum between 130 and 220, and about 90% between 110 and 240. A play summing to 75 is not less likely to be drawn, but it belongs to a small family of low-sum combinations that collectively wins only a few percent of the time.
Consecutive numbers and repeats
- A consecutive pair (for example 23-24) appears in roughly a quarter of draws. Three consecutive numbers appear in about 1% of draws.
- About one third of draws repeat at least one white ball from the previous drawing.
Both are normal structural features; plays with one consecutive pair or one repeat look like real draws.
Positional statistics
Sort the five white balls of every draw from lowest to highest. The lowest ball averages about 12, the second about 24, the middle about 35, the fourth about 47 and the highest about 58. A play whose sorted numbers are 3, 5, 8, 11, 14 is structurally unusual; one that runs roughly 10, 25, 35, 48, 60 is typical.
Decade spread
Divide 1-69 into seven groups (1-9, 10-19, ..., 60-69). Most draws touch three or four groups. Plays concentrated in one or two groups are rare and, again, over-played.
The Powerball (red ball)
The red ball comes from a separate drum, so none of the structural statistics above apply to it. Its frequency table is noisier than the white-ball table because only one is drawn per drawing. Treat Powerball hot and cold labels as a curiosity.
Putting it together: the profile of a typical winning draw
Most winning draws since 2015 share this profile:
- Odd/even 3/2 or 2/3
- High/low 3/2 or 2/3
- White-ball sum 130-220
- At most one consecutive pair
- Numbers spread across three or more decades
- Zero or one repeat from the previous draw
- A mix of hot, neutral and cold or overdue numbers
A play that fits this profile is what we call well structured. It is not luckier than any other play. It is a member of the large family of combinations that produces the majority of winners, and it is unlikely to be duplicated.
How Powerball AI turns statistics into plays
Our number generator offers two engines built on the statistics above:
- AI Engine (recommended): generates thousands of candidate plays with mild frequency and gap weighting, scores them on how closely their structural profile matches historical draws, and returns the best while guaranteeing diversity across your pack.
- Statistical: a transparent recipe combining a fixed mix of hot, cold and overdue numbers with the same structural checks.
Both are available from $0.99 per play in the shop, or as a subscription that emails fresh plays the morning of every drawing.
Common statistical myths
"The machine is due to draw 13." No. Balls have no memory.
"Quick picks win more often." Quick picks win in proportion to how many are sold, about 70-80% of tickets. Chosen numbers win in exactly the same proportion.
"A combination that has never been drawn cannot win." Almost every combination has never been drawn; there are 292 million of them and about 1,400 draws.
"Hot numbers are hot because the machine favors them." Powerball drawings are audited and the spread between hot and cold numbers is fully explained by chance.
Frequently asked questions
Where do your statistics come from?
From the official drawing history published on the New York State Open Data portal, covering every drawing since October 7, 2015. We refresh within the hour after each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday drawing.
How many drawings are analyzed?
More than 1,400 as of September 2026, and three more every week.
Can statistics predict the next draw?
No. They describe the past and the shape of typical winners. They cannot influence or predict a random drawing.
Is Powerball AI affiliated with Powerball?
No. Powerball is a registered trademark of the Multi-State Lottery Association. We are an independent statistics and number-generation service and we do not sell tickets.
Powerball is a game of chance. Play for entertainment within a budget you can afford. If gambling becomes a problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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