Hit the Jackpot? Most People Would Use Their Winnings to Buy a House

You did it! You bought the winning ticket!

After the initial excitement wears down and that big check has been collected, how would you spend the $1 million you won in the lottery? Online-gambling.com recently asked 500 people this and the majority of respondents said they’d buy a home. Residents in 30 states also chose homebuying as their top choice; the answer was the same for Pennsylvania residents.

The second most popular way people would spend their money is by investing it, which was more likely to be chosen among younger generations. Following investing, the third most popular way was to pay off debts. Following that was traveling the world and then starting a business.

Millennials were the generation most eager to use their winnings to buy a property. Nearly 30% said that is how they would spend their money, followed by investing at 15% and traveling at 11%. Generation Z was more likely to invest it, said 26%, but 23% would buy a house. Twelve percent would use it to travel.

Women were more likely than men to want to spend the money on homebuying. Nearly 30% of women would choose homebuying, followed by paying off debts (16%) and traveling (12%). Men, meanwhile, were more likely to want to invest it (23%), followed by buying a home (21%) and then paying off debt (10%).

However, most people will just keep dreaming. In Pennsylvania, there are roughly 22 jackpot winners a year, according to Yotta. The odds of hitting a Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302,575,350, while the odds of winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292,201,338.