The Sims 4 has an almost endless number of ways to get rich. The most obvious way to make money is by joining a career! Earn promotions to make your way to the top of your career and you might become the next Nancy Landgraab. Not all careers are created equal, though, so if you want to set your Sim up for success, this article can help. We’ll be breaking down the highest paying careers in The Sims 4 in both the base game and DLC packs!
The Sims 4 Highest Paid Careers
Thank you to our good friend Carl over at Carl’s Sims 4 Guide for providing payout calculations for some of these careers!
Top 5 Highest Paying Careers in The Sims 4: Base Game
Style Influencer (Stylist)
- Hourly Pay: $500
- Daily Pay: $3,000
- Weekly Pay: $15,000
For players with just the base game, the Style Influencer career is going to be their money ticket. Relatively low hours with a high hourly pay means a lot of reward for little effort. Players who enjoy spending hours in CAS will especially love this career because you’ll be able to make money through giving all the townies makeovers.
Style Influencer (Trend Setter)
- Hourly Pay: $451
- Daily Pay: $2,706
- Weekly Pay: $13,530
The Style Influencer career makes another appearance with the Trend Setter branch. This career branch isn’t too different from the stylist branch, though, so if you’re torn on which career path to take, we’d recommend the Stylist branch. The duties are very similar but you make more money.
Business (Investor)
- Hourly Pay: $406
- Daily Pay: $3,248
- Weekly Pay: $12,992
Naturally, if you go into Business, you can expect to make money. That’s the whole point of business. While this is one of the highest paying careers in the base game, the downside is that it’s a lot of hours, especially at lower levels of the career. Your Sims will be trapped in the daily grind and be stressed out and overworked the majority of the time. Ah, capitalism…
Astronaut (Interstellar Smuggler)
- Hourly Pay: $413
- Daily Pay: $3,717
- Weekly Pay: $11,151
If you want to make a cushy living at the top level of your career without having to work much, this is the ideal career for you. The Interstellar Smuggler branch of the Astronaut career only requires you to work 3 days a week, so even though you’re not making as much as a stylist, you have a lot more free time on your hands to enjoy your earnings.
Secret Agent (Villain)
- Hourly Pay: $515
- Daily Pay: $2,575
- Weekly Pay: $10,300
The Secret Agent career rounds off our top 5 list for the base game. If you want to make the most of this career’s potential earnings, you need to be devious and join the Villain branch. This career is best suited to Evil or Mean Sims with the Public Enemy or Chief of Mischief aspirations.
Top 10 Highest Paying Careers in The Sims 4: DLC Packs
Military (Covert Operator & Operator) – StrangerVille
- Hourly Pay: $422
- Daily Pay: $3,376
- Weekly Pay: $16,880
StrangerVille should be your top pick for DLC packs if you’re after lucrative careers. The military career it comes with is by far the best career based on pay alone. Both branches will net you $16,880 each week, so you’re free to pick the branch you like the most. You can also choose to work from home and earn the same pay so it’s quite a versatile career.
Gardener (Botanist) – Seasons
- Hourly Pay: $420
- Daily Pay: $2,940
- Weekly Pay: $14,700
The Seasons expansion pack is a fan favourite for many different reasons; it adds a lot to a Sim’s everyday life, but it also comes with one of the highest paying careers in The Sims 4. You wouldn’t think digging around in the dirt all day would be lucrative, but if you join the Botanist branch of the Gardener career, you’ll be raking in $14,700 each week at the top level. This is another career that allows you to work from home.
Civil Designer (Civic Planner) – Eco Lifestyle
- Hourly Pay: $350
- Daily Pay: $3,150
- Weekly Pay: $12,600
While you’d make a lot more money as a botanist or military officer, being a civic planner comes with other rewards, like a reward trait called Champion of the People which gives you more sway in your community, and the ability to fabricate special career-only items. If you want to make the most of the Eco Lifestyle expansion, this is a good career choice.
Social Media (Public Relations) – City Living
- Hourly Pay: $453
- Daily Pay: $3,171
- Weekly Pay: $12,684
City Living is a great expansion for extroverted and social Sims. One of the highest paying careers in The Sims 4 is the Social Media career. Specifically, the Public Relations branch. This career also has the potential to earn you extra money on the side through your social media presence. It’s a work from home career, too, which means flexible hours.
Law (Private Attorney) – Discover University
- Hourly Pay: $450
- Daily Pay: $3,150
- Weekly Pay: $12,600
While you earn a lot more per hour as a private attorney, you work less hours (that’s what paralegals are for, right?) so overall, you’ll be making the same amount of money each week as you would if you were a civic planner. Still, who doesn’t want to be able to brag about being a lawyer? This could be a good career choice for your ambitious college graduates.
Doctor – Get To Work
- Hourly Pay: $280
- Daily Pay: $2,800
- Weekly Pay: $11,200
The Doctor career is an active career so it only has one branch. You would think doctors would make the most money out of every career but not so. They pull in $11,200 a week at the top level, which is still high but not nearly as much as some other careers. The benefits of being a doctor are pretty good, though. You can predict the gender of unborn babies, you get a trait that makes you more resistant to illness, and active careers are a lot more fun than other careers because you get to play your Sim at work.
Scientist – Get To Work
- Hourly Pay: $247
- Daily Pay: $2,223
- Weekly Pay: $11,115
The overall weekly pay for a scientist is just slightly below a doctor but they get some pretty great perks! Scientists can have breakthroughs which allow them to discover and build new inventions, including a cloning machine, a satellite that can make contact with aliens, and a wormhole generator that allows you to travel to the alien planet of Sixam. If you are an alien enthusiast, becoming a scientist is a great way to meet some!
Detective – Get To Work
- Hourly Pay: $265
- Daily Pay: $2,120
- Weekly Pay: $10,600
Detective is the lowest-paying active career that comes with Get To Work but it does still make the top 15 list. If you love watching cop shows on TV, this career is for you. Travel to crime scenes with your Sim, interview witnesses, collect evidence, and piece all the clues together to put the bad guy in jail. This is a very fun, exciting career to play through.
Gardener (Floral Designer) – Seasons
- Hourly Pay: $350
- Daily Pay: $2,100
- Weekly Pay: $10,500
The Gardener career makes a second appearance on our top 15 list! If designing floral arrangements is more appealing to you than studying the science of plants, you should consider the floral designer branch of the Gardener career. The pay is decent and you’ll be able to spend your time building your Flower Arranging skill. It’s worth mentioning that you can make a killing on the side by selling the arrangements you make for work. Some arrangements are worth big money if you have the flowers on hand to save money on crafting costs.
Politician (Politician) – City Living
- Hourly Pay: $340
- Daily Pay: $2,100
- Weekly Pay: $9,520
The politician career will net you $9,520 at the top level and will require your Sim to be extremely extroverted. They will have to greet Sims daily and promote their political platform. They’ll also be hosting a lot of events and fundraisers to raise money for their political campaign and/or charitable organizations. This career is best suited to Outgoing Sims with the Friend of the World aspiration.
More Earnings
Keep in mind that all of the above careers list the base pay. You could earn more depending on your Sim’s education level and how many raises they earn throughout their career.
It’s also important to remember that overall, 9-5 careers are the least lucrative way to make a living in The Sims 4. You can earn far more through selling paintings, publishing books, and licensing songs. Gig-based careers such as the base game freelance careers and the Interior Decorator career from the Dream Home Decorator DLC also have the potential to make you far richer. The issue with calculating earnings for these careers is the earnings aren’t consistent; your skill level, which jobs you take, your clients’ satisfaction, and how many jobs you complete in a week will all change your pay drastically. Basically, with these careers, the more you hustle, the more you make.
Interested in learning more about any of these highest paying careers in The Sims 4? Check out our Career Guide!
