Heists are the quickest way to earn large amounts of money in GTA 5. They are complex missions that require careful planning and preparation. You will have a chance to do five Heists in the GTA 5 main storyline, and in this guide, we will cover every one of them and how to get the most money possible out of them.
How to get the most money out of all GTA 5 heists
We will cover all five Heists chronologically as they happen in the main storyline. You can gain a lot of money if you do things right and a lot of opportunities to spend it afterward. After successfully finishing with a heist, you will be allowed to replay it as you wish, so don't worry if you made a misstep. There's always another chance.
Heist 1: The Jewel Store Job
We need to have the following people for this Heist:
- Driver: Karim Denz
- Gunman: Packie McCreary
- Hacker: Rickie Lukens
- Approach: B
Packie is the Gunman of choice for this mission because he does the same job for the least amount of money. To unlock Packie, you need to complete his task in a random event where he heeds a getaway driver for his own Random Event. Rickie Lukens is the right option for the hacker in this Heist because he will delay alarms for the longest, giving you enough time to pick up all the jewelry in the store.
This is the most optimal play you can do. Other options may even offer you slightly more money but introduce complications and, in the end, aren't worth the extra hassle. Some will even get crewmembers killed, so you won't be able to use them for future Heists. This particular event will trigger if you pick Norm as a Gunman. He will crash during the escape, leaving you with his money, but you won't be able to use him for the rest of Heists.
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The expected profit should be:
- Franklin: $293,539
- Michael: $1,223,073
Heist 2: The Merryweather Heist
There is no optimal way to finish this Heist because it's set up to fail due to narrative reasons. You cannot finish it successfully no matter what you do, so sit back and watch everything go wrong.
Heist 3: The Paleto Score
For this heist, the best Gunman options are either Packie or Chef. This will be an exciting Heist to play because your crew has chainguns and full body armor, and you will face police forces and the army head-on. Don't allow yourself to get shot in the back because each hit that connects will lose you some money. You will start with $8,016,020, and there will be an unavoidable loss of $20,000. It will come down to how well you play and manage not to get shot in the money bags. The total amount should still be over 8 million. The expected score should be:
- Franklin: $425,000 to $464,000
- Trevor: $425,000 to $464,000
- Michael: $425,000 to $464,000
Heist 4: The Bureau Raid
Take these guys for this Heist crew:
- Driver: Taliana Martinez
- Gunman: Norm Richards
- Hacker: Rickie Lukens
- Approach: B
Make sure you have Taliana Martinez unlocked before doing this Heist and the following one. She is the cheapest getaway driver and performs well. To unlock her as a driver, you will have to complete her random event called Crash Rescue. Take her to the hospital before she dies, and you will have her available as a potential driver from that point in the story.
In this Heist, you will be doing a raid on a Federal building. You will need to hack the government server to complete the mission. Rickie Lukens will do a fine job on this part. You will finish the hacking minigame faster with a better hacker, but this won't affect your final amount of profit. The final score should be about $240,000 for Franklin. Michael won't earn anything in this Heist due to storyline reasons.
Heist 5: The Big Score
Every storyline Heist has led to this one. Take the following crew for this Heist:
- Gunman 1: The cheapest option
- Gunman 2: The cheapest option
- Helicopter pilot: Taliana Martinez
- Train driver: Karim Denz
- Approach: B
You can earn over 41 million dollars per character by completing this Heist. Have Karim drive the train. If you let him pilot the helicopter, he will crash. Taliana's piloting will be fine for this Heist and won't lead to any issues. You should take the cheapest options available for Gunmen because they won't be able to mess anything up. The final amount of money that you get from this Heist will depend on how well it all plays out, so don't be afraid to repeat the Heist if some part of it goes wrong.
Looking for more GTA V guides? We have you covered, check out How to use a parachute in GTA 5 and How to find all Jack O’ Lanterns in the GTA V Halloween event here on Pro Game Guides!
Luka Rakocevic works as a full-time staff writer at Pro Game Guides and is a new-generation gamer. Backed with old-school gaming knowledge, his oldest gaming memories are on SNES, trying to beat Super Mario. Games are his big inspiration, and he frequently draws from that well to create new art. He prefers narrative-driven games like God of War, Killzone, Half-life, Uncharted and similar.
Luka mainly writes science fiction in his free time. When he's not home banging away at his computer keyboard, you will most likely find him at a local pub or a metal concert in the middle of a mosh pit.