Making money in GTA 5 Story Mode is easier than you think.
Michael, Franklin, and Trevor should have millions by the end of GTA 5’s Story Mode. If you pick the approach and crew in The Big Score, each protagonist can get up to $40 million in their bank accounts, and even more, if you pick any alternative endings.
$40 million is far from pocket change, but it’s hardly any money when you consider all the vehicles, properties, and other indulgences still waiting to be purchased in GTA 5.
More money will allow you to explore all GTA 5 offers and then some. This guide will show you how to make money in GTA 5 Story Mode.
Make Money in Story Mode
There are a couple of ways to make extra money in GTA 5. You can keep stealing as you’ve always done throughout the game or take on extra Lester missions to grow the money you got from The Big Score. Other options, such as milking recurring Random Events or investing in properties, are viable means of making money in GTA 5 Story Mode.
Make Money through Robbery
Stealing other people’s money is by far the easiest way to make money in GTA 5, and there are a couple of ways to do this in-game:
- ATM Robberies
- Store Robberies
- Ammu-Nation Cash Register Glitch
ATM Robberies is first on the list. As the name suggests, this method involves waiting for NPCs to withdraw their money from ATMs and then killing them to claim dropped money. This method isn’t as lucrative as the other methods featured below, but is the easiest.
Next, you can try heading to any of the 19 Convenience Stores in GTA 5 Story Mode. You can force the cashier to give you money from the cash register by pointing your gun at them. You can get anywhere from $100 to $1200 from Store Robberies in GTA 5. Check out our Store Robberies Guide to find all 19 Convenience Stores in the game.
Another way you can make money in GTA 5 Story Mode is by visiting any of the 9 Ammu-Nation locations in GTA 5 and abusing a known cash register glitch. The glitch is simple: walk into any Ammu-Nation location, shoot the cash registers, take the money, leave the store, and cross the street. The cash registers should respawn by then, allowing you to rinse and repeat the process for easy cash.
Lester’s Assassinations (Story Mode)
Lester’s Assassinations Missions are another way to make money in GTA 5.
In these missions, Lester will ask you to take down specific targets in an attempt to manipulate the stock market. There are 5 Lester’s Assassinations Missions in the game:
- The Hotel Assassination
- The Multi Target Assassination
- The Vice Assassination
- The Bus Assassination
- The Construction Assassination
To make the most money from these missions, however, you must invest all the money you make from The Big Score. Complete The Big Score before you take on Lester’s Assassination Missions.
Milk Those Random Events
Random Events are fun missions you will encounter randomly in GTA 5 and are optional missions not required to complete Main Story mode.
However, there are some Random Events that you won’t want to miss, as some of them can net you a decent amount of cash very quickly. These include:
- Bike Thief City 1 ($100,000 in Animal Ark stocks)
- Burial ($60,000)
- Deal Gone Wrong ($25,000)
- Drug Shootout ($70,000)
- Hitch Lift 1 (30% Profit)
The Random Events listed above occur only once in GTA 5. Others recur indefinitely in-game, like the Security Vans Random Event, where you can get anywhere between $3000 to $8000 per van.
Make Money in GTA 5 by Investing in Properties
If you haven’t noticed yet, you can purchase various properties in GTA 5. The initial investment can range between a few hundred thousand dollars to a couple of million per property, but you will eventually make back your money through property revenue.
Below are some properties you might consider buying to make money in GTA 5 Story Mode.
- Smoke on the Water
- Initial Investment: $204,000
- Weekly Revenue: $9,000
- Doppler Cinema
- Initial Investment: $10,000,000
- Weekly Revenue: $132,000
- McKenzie Field Hangar
- Initial Investment: $150,000
- Weekly Revenue: Varies on shipments. ($5,000 per load/$7,000 per shipment)
- Los Santos Customs
- Initial Investment: $349,000
- Weekly Revenue: $1,600
- Downtown Cab Co.
- Initial Investment: $200,000
- Weekly Revenue: $2,000
Final Thoughts
Making money in GTA 5 is easy, as you’re bound to make millions after completing The Big Score anyway. With that said, you’ll want to invest your money in Lester’s Assassination missions or various properties in the game to ensure you never run out of cash.
If you ever run out of money in-game, you can go back to your old ways and steal from NPCs, stores, and Security Vans around the game.
