Number 48

In Mega Millions under the 5/70 + 1/25 · Oct 2017 – Apr 2025 rules — 776 draws, 5 from 1–70 (an earlier era).

57times drawn · chance expected 55 +0.22σ

8draws waiting · a wait this long: 60% for any number

13.2average wait between appearances · chance says 14.0

91longest completed wait · 7% chance of one at least that long

48 is drawn as often as chance explains

Drawn 57 times in 776 draws against 55.4 expected, +0.22σ. Each draw is independent: after 8 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.

Number 48, draw by draw

Drawn 57 times in 776 draws · average wait 13.2 draws · longest completed wait 91 · waiting 8 draws now

a completed wait — darker is longer the wait still running — a lower bound, not a finished gap

Where it lands in a sorted draw

Sort a draw and 48 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.

1st smallest0 · chance 0.5
2nd smallest2 · chance 4.8
3rd smallest19 · chance 16.5
4th smallest24 · chance 23.5
5th smallest12 · chance 11.8

Every position’s lane →

The company it keeps

Seen most often with these — chance gives every partner about 3.3 shared draws, and the leaders are simply the ones that came out ahead this time.

8 14 22 58 24 26

Never drawn alongside 1 of the other 69 numbers; chance expects about 3 such strangers by now. Every pair →

How many people play it

Under the crowd model, 48 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 36th most popular of 70. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.

Numbers above 31 ×0.86

The model and its sources → · What people believe about 48 →

Every draw it appeared in

Date	Wait	Position	The draw
2025-03-07	10	3rd	8 20 48 58 60
2025-01-31	7	3rd	9 28 48 56 63
2025-01-07	8	5th	20 24 33 39 48
2024-12-10	14	4th	12 14

What this cannot tell you

Nothing here predicts the next draw. A number’s history is a record of a fair machine’s past, and the machine keeps none of it: 48 is drawn with probability 5/70 tonight whatever it did last week.

2021-04-02	27	3rd	10 42 48 53 62
2020-12-29	27	4th	1 31 35 48 62
2020-09-25	4	4th	20 36 37 48 67
2020-09-11	12	4th	3 15 42 48 56
2020-07-31	11	4th	12 35 46 48 69
2020-06-23	30	5th	6 20 37 40 48
2020-03-10	1	3rd	6 17 48 54 69
2020-03-06	6	2nd	15 48 56 58 70
2020-02-14	3	3rd	10 32 48 54 55
2020-02-04	12	2nd	32 48 50 51 64
2019-12-24	22	3rd	27 37 48 63 66
2019-10-08	1	5th	5 8 10 17 48
2019-10-04	4	4th	11 38 44 48 70
2019-09-20	3	4th	23 24 42 48 53
2019-09-10	11	3rd	34 47 48 50 55
2019-08-02	2	4th	11 20 26 48 70
2019-07-26	3	5th	4 6 11 43 48
2019-07-16	2	4th	8 16 31 48 52
2019-07-09	5	4th	12 26 40 48 64
2019-06-21	1	4th	13 30 36 48 62
2019-06-18	4	5th	12 14 22 24 48
2019-06-04	12	4th	25 37 46 48 68
2019-04-23	2	4th	7 24 30 48 67
2019-04-16	19	4th	11 29 34 48 54
2019-02-08	2	5th	14 24 31 42 48
2019-02-01	4	3rd	2 37 48 66 68
2019-01-18	33	3rd	2 43 48 62 64
2018-09-25	32	4th	8 16 32 48 61
2018-06-05	4	4th	22 33 41 48 52
2018-05-22	8	5th	16 17 21 36 48
2018-04-24	19	5th	3 19 31 32 48
2018-02-16	3	3rd	14 38 48 53 58
2018-02-06	—	4th	14 17 25 48 58