How to Make Money in GTA 5
This page features all the tips and hints we have to help you get money in Grand Theft Auto 5 story mode and should be read in conjunction with our Stock Market Tips guide (which is where you can you make some serious cash). If you have any hints or tips of your own, feel free to send them in! By the way, the maximum amount of money you can earn in GTA V for each character is $2,147,483,647.00 - explanation.
Armored Car Robberies
When you see a blue dot on the map it means there is an armored car.
If it's parked and there is someone with a briefcase walking towards it, shoot that person and you'll get GTA$ 3,000 - 8,000 easy.
Otherwise steal the armored car and break open the back doors (an easy way of doing this is to just drive it into the water). You can also simply plant sticky bombs to the back of the car to blow it open, but take care - this will automatically saddle you with 3 wanted stars.
Armored cars spawn in fixed locations, and there is a cluster of five spawn locations close to one another in down town Los Santos centered around Little Seoul and La Puerta. There is another near Cypress Flats, one in Vinewood, and another in Paleto Bay. You can refer to this map for exact locations.
ATM Robberies
If you hang around ATMs and wait for people to withdraw cash before robbing them, they are much more likely to yield a decent chunk of change for your trouble. Typically, NPCs carry GTA$ 10-20 on them, however right after accessing an ATM that number increases to GTA$ 30-120.
Note that the AI has been programmed in a way that NPCs will note your presence if you act suspiciously, and leave the ATM. In this case, the regular low yield will apply. The best tactic is to incapacitate the NPC with a non-lethal weapon before robbing them for best results. The number of NPCs accessing ATMs is seemingly random, but in reality, the rate is just different at each ATM.
Easy $100,000 Mission
This mission has an equal chance of triggering for all three protagonists.
Anyway, when you're playing (particularly as Franklin and free roaming around his house) a blue marker might pop up near Little Bighorn Avenue, which is located in the South-eastern part of the city in the Rancho district.
If it does, investigate what's going because it might be a kid called Gray Nicholson telling you his bike got stolen.
If it is, then get it back for him, because later he'll text you saying he is a millionaire, and give $100,000!
Infinite Store Robberies
Here's a way to keep robbing Ammu-nation stores. It works because the money in Ammu-nation cash registers respawns very quickly!
- Head to any store that is open.
- Shoot the clerk from doorway with a silenced gun to avoid detection.
- Empty the cash registers, which can be opened with a melee attack or with a gun (again, silenced).
- Exit the store and walk about three car lengths away (you'll get to know the correct distance if you keep doing this...).
- Turn around and re-enter store - you'll find that the money has re-spawned!
- Grab the cash, exit and repeat.
Infinite Money #1
Note: this has been patched and the character switching method will now only work if you have an un-patched copy of the game. However, if instead of switching characters you quick save and then reload your game the briefcase will re-spawn.
You need to either swim or ideally drive a boat to the location shown in the map below in Paleto Bay, and then dive into the ocean and head to the very bottom
You should see a sunken plane and to the right of it there will be a treasure box with $12,000 in it.
Once you've got the box the first time, switch characters and then change back again to your original character. The box should have respawned! If it hasn't try swimming further away and then doing the character switch back and forth.
Repeat this as many times as you like.
Infinite Money #2
Note: this has been patched and the character switching method will now only work if you have an un-patched copy of the game. However, if instead of switching characters you quick save and then reload your game the briefcase will re-spawn.
This infinite money hint operates on the same principles as the tip above except that the box contains $20,000!
The exact location of the briefcase can be seen on the image below. It is located at the Tataviam Mountains in a sunken ship.
Infinite Money #3
Note: this has been patched and the character switching method will now only work if you have an un-patched copy of the game. However, if instead of switching characters you quick save and then reload your game the briefcase will re-spawn.
This infinite money hint operates on the same principles as the tip above except that the box contains $25,000! There is also an MG SMG Rifle located among the wreckage. The best way to find it is follow the long pole till you come to the end of it and on a slab that the wreckage is standing on you will find the gun. There is also an Armor vest which is located near some rocks near the wreckage (face the wreckage with the briefcase on your left side and you are facing the hull door, then on your right hand side is where the vest is located). Also Grenades are located right next to the wreckage (go to the side where the money is and go straight down and the grenade will be right there). I would not recommend trying to find the MG Rifle in the dark it is almost impossible best to wait till daytime to try and find it.
Infinite Money #4
Note: this has been patched and the character switching method will now only work if you have an un-patched copy of the game. However, if instead of switching characters you quick save and then reload your game the briefcase will re-spawn.
This infinite money hint operates on the same principles as the tips above. The briefcase only contains $9,000 however there are several weapons hidden about in this section such as an UZI, Pump Action Shotgun, Sticky Bombs, Grenades Sniper Rifle & Carbine Assault Rifle. It will take at least 15 minutes to find all of them though. I would not recommend trying to find these in the dark as you will lose your bearings and miss some.
Save Sonny's Daughter - $60K
This explains how to do a "random encounter" in which you'll receive $60,000.
Head to the northern part of Paleto Bay along the dirt road (as shown in the map below) and you should find a random encounter where two guys were getting ready to kill a girl (the girl is actually mob boss "Sonny's" daughter).
Kill the guys and take the girl to where she wants to go (Vinewood).
Then later you'll get a call from her and $60,000 wired to your account.
Assassinations
Assassinations are missions given by Lester that let you affect the stock market, thus making significantly greater profits than with just about any other activity. To get the most out of assassinations, it is advisable to complete these missions after you finish the main storyline and use the income from The Big Score to buy up as much stock as you can, then selling it all after the assassination is complete to make a ton of money. The Hotel Assassination is the only one of these required to progress in the story, so for maximum profits you ought to skip all the others until you finished the main storyline.
Track Loot And Collectibles With Chop
If you take Chop, Franklin's dog which he gets from Lamar, on walks, he will sniff out loot and other collectibles like spaceship parts and the like. Using him to detect these items can make searching a whole lot easier.
Bust The Marijuana Farm
This event is only accessible by Trevor, on Thursdays, during Daytime.
If you travel down a small dead-end path on the eastern face of Mount Chiliad, you'll happen upon a small drug storehouse where some crooks are growing weed. If you take out all the armed guards in a short shootout, you can loot the building for instant cash rewards of varying amounts, with the minimum amount being GTA$ 60,000 but usually going above. The best thing is that this location respawns, so you can come back every now and then to shoot the goons and loot the goods all over again.
