Pillar Guide · 8 min read
Business Tier List
All 100 businesses ranked by return on investment, so you always know what to prioritise next.
How we rank businesses
Businesses are ranked by payback period — how many seconds of that business's own income it takes to earn back its purchase cost. A shorter payback period means better short-term efficiency, though every tier remains worth owning at the right stage of the game. For the full formula walkthrough, see the main Business Guide.
S-Tier Businesses
| Business | Base cost | Income/s | Payback (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🍋 Lemonade Stand | $15 | $0.1 | 100 |
| 📰 Paper Route | $120 | $1 | 120 |
| 🚿 Car Wash | $1.30K | $8 | 163 |
| 🍕 Pizza Shop | $14.0K | $47 | 298 |
| 💻 Tech Startup | $200K | $260 | 769 |
| 🏢 Real Estate | $3.30M | $1.40K | 2,357 |
| 🏦 Investment Bank | $51.0M | $7.80K | 6,538 |
| 🛢️ Oil Rig | $750M | $44.0K | 17,045 |
| 🚀 Space Company | $10.0B | $260K | 38,462 |
| 🌌 Quantum Exchange | $140B | $1.60M | 87,500 |
| ☕ Coffee Shop | $217B | $2.18M | 99,724 |
| 🚚 Food Truck | $336B | $2.96M | 113,656 |
| 🥐 Bakery | $521B | $4.02M | 129,535 |
| 📚 Bookstore | $808B | $5.47M | 147,632 |
| 🏋️ Gym | $1.25T | $7.44M | 168,257 |
A-Tier Businesses
| Business | Base cost | Income/s | Payback (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💇 Hair Salon | $1.94T | $10.1M | 191,763 |
| 🎳 Bowling Alley | $3.01T | $13.8M | 218,553 |
| 🎬 Movie Theater | $4.66T | $18.7M | 249,087 |
| 🕹️ Arcade | $7.23T | $25.5M | 283,885 |
| 💥 Comic Shop | $11.2T | $34.6M | 323,546 |
| 🧸 Toy Store | $17.4T | $47.1M | 368,747 |
| 🚲 Bike Shop | $26.9T | $64.1M | 420,263 |
| 🐾 Pet Store | $41.7T | $87.1M | 478,977 |
...and 17 more A-tier businesses.
B-Tier Businesses
| Business | Base cost | Income/s | Payback (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🧾 Accounting Firm | $111Qa | $22.1B | 5,041,787 |
| 📢 Marketing Agency | $172Qa | $30.0B | 5,746,155 |
| 🛡️ Insurance Company | $267Qa | $40.8B | 6,548,927 |
| 🧑💼 Recruitment Agency | $414Qa | $55.5B | 7,463,850 |
| 💾 Software Company | $642Qa | $75.5B | 8,506,594 |
| 📱 App Studio | $996Qa | $103B | 9,695,015 |
| 🎮 Video Game Studio | $1.54Qi | $140B | 11,049,466 |
| 🖥️ Data Center | $2.39Qi | $190B | 12,593,141 |
...and 27 more B-tier businesses.
C-Tier Businesses
| Business | Base cost | Income/s | Payback (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🎥 Streaming Platform | $511Sx | $1.04Qa | 490,153,581 |
| 📰 Publishing House | $791Sx | $1.42Qa | 558,630,919 |
| 📊 Advertising Empire | $1.23Sp | $1.93Qa | 636,674,945 |
| 💹 Hedge Fund | $1.90Sp | $2.62Qa | 725,622,180 |
| 💰 Venture Capital Firm | $2.95Sp | $3.56Qa | 826,995,867 |
| 📈 Stock Exchange | $4.57Sp | $4.85Qa | 942,532,054 |
| 🪙 Cryptocurrency Exchange | $7.08Sp | $6.59Qa | 1,074,209,326 |
| 🏛️ Central Bank | $11.0Sp | $8.96Qa | 1,224,282,688 |
...and 17 more C-tier businesses.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does this ranking change once I have cost-reduction cards?
+
Does this ranking change once I have cost-reduction cards?
+The relative order stays roughly the same, but cost-reduction cards improve every business's efficiency proportionally, so the gap between tiers narrows slightly rather than reordering them.
Is a lower-tier business ever better than a higher one?
+
Is a lower-tier business ever better than a higher one?
+Early on, yes — buying many cheap low-tier businesses in bulk often out-earns a single expensive high-tier business, because you can afford far more copies for the same total spend.
Should I skip tiers entirely?
+
Should I skip tiers entirely?
+No. Each tier serves its stage of the game. Skipping too far ahead means overpaying for a business you can't yet buy in meaningful quantity.
How was this list calculated?
+
How was this list calculated?
+Rankings are based on payback period (cost ÷ income per second) pulled directly from the live game configuration, the same method used in the main Business Guide.
Does this list update automatically when new businesses are added?
+
Does this list update automatically when new businesses are added?
+Yes — the table below reads directly from the game's business data, so it always reflects the current full roster of 100 businesses.
Last updated April 2026 · Written by the Tycoon Cards development team · Reviewed against live game code · 8 min read