Best Empire Businesses in GTA Vice City Stories
The best-paying business in GTA Vice City Stories is Robbery: a High-Roller site earns $1,400 a day, and $4,200 once all six Robbery missions are done. Thirty High-Roller Robbery sites at full reputation bring in $126,000 a day, the most the empire can make. Loan Shark is the fastest to pay back its cost.
Vic Vance's empire has 30 sites, 14 on the Mainland and 16 on Vice Beach. Each one can be built as any of six business types, in three sizes. The ranking below uses the High-Roller size, the only one whose income is certain.
Businesses Ranked by Income
| # | Business | High-Roller income | At max reputation | High-Roller cost | Pays back in (max) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbery | $1,400 per day | $4,200 per day | $17,800 | 4.2 days |
| 2 | Smuggling | $1,200 per day | $3,600 per day | $14,800 | 4.1 days |
| 3 | Drugs | $1,000 per day | $3,000 per day | $13,300 | 4.4 days |
| 4 | Prostitution | $800 per day | $2,400 per day | $8,800 | 3.7 days |
| 5 | Loan Shark | $600 per day | $1,800 per day | $5,800 * | 3.2 days |
| 6 | Protection Racket | $300 per day | $900 per day | $4,400 | 4.9 days |
* Loan Shark High-Roller: $5,800, sometimes given as $6,800; at $6,800 it would pay back in 3.8 days. Small-time and Medium Venture incomes are not shown because they could not be confirmed.
Fastest to Pay Back
Cheaper businesses earn less but recover their cost sooner. At full reputation, a High-Roller Loan Shark pays for itself in about three days; Protection Racket is the slowest.
| # | Business | Pays back in | At base income | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loan Shark | 3.2 days at max reputation | 9.7 days | $5,800 |
| 2 | Prostitution | 3.7 days at max reputation | 11.0 days | $8,800 |
| 3 | Smuggling | 4.1 days at max reputation | 12.3 days | $14,800 |
| 4 | Robbery | 4.2 days at max reputation | 12.7 days | $17,800 |
| 5 | Drugs | 4.4 days at max reputation | 13.3 days | $13,300 |
| 6 | Protection Racket | 4.9 days at max reputation | 14.7 days | $4,400 |
How Reputation Triples Your Income
Each business type has its own reputation, shared by every site of that type. Finishing all of its missions, 15 for Protection, Loan Shark and Prostitution, 6 for Drugs, Smuggling and Robbery, triples the income of every site of that type. That is why the three six-mission types are both the best earners and the quickest to max out. Income is paid every day at 4:00 pm game time, with a pager message, or at the end of a mission if you are on one.
| Business | Missions | Top rank | Outfit for your first High-Roller |
|---|---|---|---|
Robbery | 6 | Heist Meister | Hood |
Smuggling | 6 | Pirate Captain | Smuggler |
Drugs | 6 | Smack Daddy | Tracksuit |
Prostitution | 15 | Mack Daddy | Leisure |
Loan Shark | 15 | Crim Reaper | Repo-Man |
Protection Racket | 15 | Ultimate Badass | Hired Muscle |
Build Costs for Every Size
| Business | Small-time | Medium Venture | High-Roller |
|---|---|---|---|
Protection Racket | $1,500 | $2,900 | $4,400 |
Loan Shark | $2,000 | $3,900 | $5,800 |
Prostitution | $3,000 | $5,900 | $8,800 |
Drugs | $4,500 | $8,900 | $13,300 |
Smuggling | $5,000 | $9,900 | $14,800 |
Robbery | $6,000 | $11,900 | $17,800 |
Taking and Keeping Sites
The empire opens after To Victor, the Spoils. At first only Protection, Loan Shark and Prostitution can be built; Drugs, Smuggling and Robbery open after From Zero to Hero, once you have taken an enemy site of that type. To take a site, destroy the gang vehicle parked outside, kill the defenders, go in and wreck the place. It pays $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000 depending on its size, then goes up for sale. Rival gangs attack your sites once you take one of theirs; a damaged site earns less and can be lost, and a repair costs $500.
For 100%, own all 30 sites and reach the top rank in all six types, and build a High-Roller Drugs site before finishing Hostile Takeover. Owning all 30 makes the vehicles parked outside your sites bulletproof.
More Vice City on GTAside
Every Vice City Stories cheat code, including the money cheat, the Vice City properties ranked by income for Tommy's empire two years later, and the Vice City Stories game page.