Many Cities: Skylines players have an itchy builder finger, which is understandable, given how many options the game throws at you to build your dream utopia. However, you’ll need money to make your city possible. At first, you’ll be earning cash through government subsidies and leveling up. Once that’s over, though, what will you do? If you want your city to progress and continue building those fantastic facilities and amenities for your citizens, here we’ll tell you how to make money in Cities: Skylines 2.
Cities: Skylines 2 – Money Making Guide
Many factors will affect how you make money in the game. While you can rely on the industrial and commercial sectors, putting too much or too little of something will affect your city. Add to that your residential needs and people’s needs in general, and you’re in for a world of financial pain. Hopefully, you’ll be able to mitigate these things with our guide.
Play With Taxes
Taxes are horrible, even for our virtual citizens. On the other hand, they are great because they’ll let you make more money during the game’s early hours to continue building. While you can risk having a few homeless people due to the lack of employment or elevated living costs, getting funding to improve your city is essential. Many will recommend the 12% rule of the first game, but we recommend bumping it to 18% during the first hours. This will give you a steady income, which you can adjust later.
Focus on Zoning
At first, zoning areas will come easy, and you’ll want to fill those grids quickly to reduce the demand for particular services or zones. However, we recommend you take your time to make a good layout to take advantage of the zoning system. While many would like to place the industrial zone far from the city, ensure resources are nearby so the companies can produce more goods. Besides that, ensure a good way to transport those goods to commercial properties. If they take too long to arrive, they won’t be as effective and won’t give you the required money.
Avoid Taking Loans
You can take higher loans with each level you get, but we advise against it. Why? The interest rate is horrible, and your budget will bleed out soon. Building a soccer field and a City Hall is tempting, but keep your funds for what’s necessary. Overbuilding is the bane of many builders and can end a smooth run quickly. Always plan and put your city in stasis if you need to increase your numbers.
Now that we’re about to wrap up this money-making guide for Cities: Skylines 2, let’s sum up the ways to increase your city-building budget:
- Increase taxes.
- Keep them at 18% during the game’s early hours.
- Plan your zoning projects.
- Always look for resources and suitable means of transportation for commercial and industrial goods.
- Avoid loans.
- Don’t take loans unless it’s an emergency.
This advice will let you improve your city without bleeding your budget out. And if you want to learn more about the new intricate financial system, here’s a dev diary from the team behind this game explaining the new mechanics:
