How to Farm Simoleons in SimCity BuildIt

How to Farm Simoleons in SimCity BuildIt

Simoleons are the main currency in SimCity BuildIt, and learning how to farm Simoleons in SimCity BuildIt is the difference between a city that grows and a city that stalls. The game starts you with 25,000 Simoleons, according to community guides, and from there almost everything costs Simoleons: services, factories, shops, roads and upgrades. The methods below all work in the official game and they stack — the best earners use several of them every day.

Collect taxes and upgrade homes

Your first and most reliable income is taxes. Upgrade residential buildings and collect taxes at City Hall. Upgraded homes hold more people and pay more tax, so every upgrade is also an income upgrade. Do not leave taxes uncollected for long periods, and do not build homes faster than your services can support — unhappy residents leave, and empty homes pay nothing. Keep homes happy and the tax income keeps flowing.

Keep factories and shops busy

Production is money. Factories make raw materials such as metal, wood, plastic, seeds, minerals, chemicals and textiles. Commercial buildings turn those into crafted items such as nails, planks, bricks, flour, donuts and burgers. Community guides report that nails take about five minutes to produce and sell for 80 Simoleons, which makes them a strong earner per minute if you can check in often, while donuts sell for a reported 950 Simoleons and burgers for a reported 3,620 Simoleons but take much longer. The rule is simple: never let a factory or shop sit idle with a “ZZZ” over it. Time in SimCity BuildIt is money wasted.

Sell surplus in the Trade Depot

The Trade Depot is where production turns into Simoleons. List items you have in surplus, set the price to the maximum the game allows, and advertise the listing so it appears in the Global Trade HQ. High-demand items sell fast; slow items sit. One guide reports a routine of collecting taxes and sales, running a short production loop and listing the results, worth around 16,000 Simoleons in under ten minutes of active play. Treat that as a reported example, not a promise. Never sell storage or land-expansion items you still need — those are hard to replace and worth more to your city than the Simoleons they fetch.

Take advisor deals — but check the price

Several times a day, deals appear over buildings in your city: a Sim offers Simoleons for goods you hold. Check the deal against the maximum Trade Depot price before accepting. Community guides warn that advisors often offer below the maximum, and that the maximum offer on an item is reported to be 140% of its maximum sale price. If the deal beats what you would get on the market, take it. If not, sell on the market instead. Police precincts are reported to be the source of burger deals, and one well-known guide describes a “Burger Deal” method built around clearing stock to burgers only — it is a community strategy, not an official feature, and deal limits have changed over time.

Cargo shipments and city tasks

Complete cargo shipments at the docks. Each item you pack pays Simoleons, and a complete shipment pays a Golden Key bonus as well. Cargo is steady income that also feeds your Golden Key supply, so it does double duty. City tasks that appear in the corner of the screen also pay Simoleons — community guides report at least 1,000 Simoleons per task — so complete them when they appear rather than ignoring them.

FAQ

What is the fastest way to farm Simoleons?

Keep factories and shops producing non-stop, sell the surplus in the Trade Depot at maximum price, collect taxes, and take good advisor deals. No single method beats the combination.

Which items sell best in SimCity BuildIt?

Fast items such as nails are strong per minute if you check in often. Longer items such as donuts and burgers pay more per item. Make what fits your play pattern.

Should I sell storage items for Simoleons?

No. Storage and land-expansion items are rare and hard to replace. Sell crafted surplus, not expansion parts.

Do taxes matter late in the game?

Yes. Upgraded homes are still a base income, but production and trading become the bigger earners as your city grows.

How do I get Simoleons without playing all day?

Queue long production items before you close the game, collect taxes and sales when you return, and list surplus in the Trade Depot. Production continues while you are away.

For the full picture, start at our homepage — and see our production chain guide in this series for what to make and when.