Cities: Skylines 2expands on the city management from the first game, introducing new buildings and services for you to use. At the start of the game, you will have a set amount of money that is enough to plan your little village, but eventually, you need to earn more.

In this guide, we are going to go over how to make money in Cities: Skylines 2. It’s very easy to get stuck in a deficit, so we will also be covering some strategies to at least break even. It’s important to note that you may play with unlimited money while first learning the ropes of the game.

cities skylines 2 clinic informational panel

Prioritize Your Service Buildings

One of the most costly things in a city is yourservices. Whenever you place a shiny new building, it will havean upkeep fee.

While some of these new service buildings look enticing, it’s important to know your budget and the needs of your city. After unlocking the hospital, you may want to place it down, but are the expenses worth it? Can your citizens maintain happiness with just a clinic? It’s also important to note thatthe monthly upkeep for just one clinic is almost $100,000!

cities skylines 2 setting budget

Decrease Service Budget

you may also cut down on the money spent on your city’s services. From the City Economy tab, head to the Services menu. From here, you canincrease or decrease the budget,freeing up some money that may not have been used to the fullest.

Raise Taxes

Taxes are, well… taxes. Much like taxes in real life, your citizens will pay a certain percentage in taxes,generating a small amount of money.From the City Economy menu, you can use sliding scales toset the percentage that different zones pay.By opening the zone dropdown, you can further adjust taxes byeducation level and business type.

We suggest experimenting with your tax percentage level. If you crank it all the way up to 30 percent and your citizens become disgruntled, you can lower it. Finding the sweet spot may take a bit of work, buthigh taxes are a great way to generate income at the start of a game.

cities skylines 2 hourly income

Export Excess Materials

Exports are materials that areproduced within your city and sold to other cities in the world.There are a number of things that you can export, with a simple option being power.

There are different options for powering your city. You can choose between clean energy or something that causes a bit more pollution, or you can choose to import power in, which costs a bit more money.

A pleasant shot of a city in Cities Skylines 2

With your own source of power, you canexport surplus energy to make a bit of money.Additionally, if you have specialized industry zones, you cankeep production contained within your city, as well as sell surplus materials to others.

Don’t Forget About Specialized Industry

Speaking of specialized industry, don’t forget to place some zones down! From the City Economy menu, click over to the Production tab. Here, you will see all the specialized materials that are going through your city. If any type has a deficit,that means it is best to build the zone yourself, eliminating the need to import it in.

For example, if you notice that your city is producing no coal but you have a coal plant, you will need to build a specialized district that specializes in coal production. If you don’t you will continue to purchase it from outside sources,spending more money than necessary.

cities skylines 2 coal plant

Reach New Milestones

When you rank your city up, you will earn a huge chunk of money. In the long run, this won’t increase your city’s income, butit’s great if you need some quick money to help plan your city.

To rank up, take care of your citizens andexpand your city.Whether you build new roads or plop down some service buildings, you willget a bit of experience that goes to ranking up.

cities skylines milestones

Take Out A Loan

Okay, we know that being in debt is bad. This is why taking out a loan can be alast resort.If you’ve burned through all the money you get for completing milestones, try taking out a loan.

With the money received from the loan,build and expand your city while optimizing your income.Loans can be the push your city needs to head in the right direction!

cities skylines income and expenses graph showing player in deficit

Expand Your City

Lastly, one of the best pieces of advice we can give is tosimply expand your city.Smaller cities may struggle to generate income, but once you build up your zones and take care of your citizens, you can start to generate income. If your small city is losing money,don’t give up hope.

When all else fails,don’t be afraid to simply start over.Part of Cities: Skylines 2 is learning from your mistakes;make your next city even better!

Cities Skylines 2 a view across a city with lowrise buildings, apartment blocks, and some distant mountains