Background Person-centred palliative care emphasizes aligning care with individuals’ values and preferences, including how and where to receive care and die. This approach is a core component of national policy. Dying in one’s preferred place is associated with enhanced wellbeing and sense of dignity. Preferences are shaped by various factors, including individuals’ understanding of goals, services, and benefits of palliative care.   Aim To investigate preferences for place of end-of-life care and place of death in the Swedish adult population and explore factors associated with these preferences, and to identify how preferences vary across subgroups characterized by differences in understanding of palliative care.   Design A cross-sectional population-based survey. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups based on participants’ understanding of palliative care.   Setting and participants A random sample of 3,750 individuals aged 16 to 90 years, from the Swedish population register were invited.   Results A total of 1,752 persons responded to the questionnaire (48% response rate). Overall, 59.6% preferred end-of-life care at home, and 54.2% preferred to dying home. Five subgroups with dissimilar understandings of palliative care were identified, ranging from comprehensive understanding to misunderstanding (Figure 1). The comprehensive understanding group included more women (57.6%), older participants (Mean age 57 [SD 17]), and a higher proportion with university education (48.2%). Comprehensive understanding, e.g. believing that palliative care supports families and reduces suffering, was associated with a preference for home or hospice care. Misunderstanding, e.g. the belief that palliative care hastens death, was associated with a preference for hospital or care facility.   Conclusion Most respondents preferred home as the place for end-of-life care and death. Preferences were significantly influenced by understanding of palliative care. The results underscore the importance of person-centred care practice and governance approaches that enable for people to make informed choices, and that strengthen opportunities for home-based care.