Powerball Jackpot tops $1 billion: What would Kern County residents do if they won?

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- The Powerball Jackpot lottery has been raised to $1.1 billion -- the fifth highest amount in the lottery's history.

For locals out on the holiday weekend, there's plenty of options for what they'd do with a billion in the bank.

"I would take everyone out to Cabo," said Viviana Gonzalez, drinking her coffee in Dagny's in downtown Bakersfield.

"I'd probably donate a big chunk to my church," said Izzie Vasquez.

"If I had a billion dollars, I'd probably invest half of it into stocks, the other bit I'd just keep it in my pocket," said Brendan Sanford.

Danny Winthrop agreed: "If I had a billion dollars, I'd certainly invest it.

For both Powerball and Mega Millions, seven of the 10 largest jackpots in history have been won since 2021.

There have been 12 jackpo