GTA 5 Heist Guide: How to make money on Story Mode

Knowing the GTA 5 Heist Guide is still necessary for players who play Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2025. The game's popularity hasn’t dipped much since its release in 2013. One major reason is heists, which are the best way to make money in the story mode. While players have a lot of freedom when completing heists, choosing the right associates and approach will help them make the most money.

There are multiple heists in the game, making the story mode a lot more exciting, by knowing the GTA V Heist Guide. Following the guide, the protagonists Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Philips should be able to make the most money.

With that said, let’s look at how to make the most money in the story mode from The Jewel Store Job, The Paleto Score, The Bureau Raid, and The Big Score in this GTA 5 Heist Guide.

GTA 5 Heist Guide: How to make the most money from all Grand Theft Auto V heists in the story mode

Before getting started with this GTA V Heist Guide, you must unlock two characters via random events that can act as associates in story mode heists:

Packie McReary: Getaway Driver
Taliana Martinez: Crash Rescue

The former becomes available on the map after the story mode mission Complications, between Forum Drive and Strawberry Avenue, and the latter after Mr Philips, near Braddock Pass. Only after unlocking these characters can one make the most money in the game.

Let's start with the GTA 5 Heist Guide which contains tips and tricks to earn the maximum amount of money in the story mode:

1) GTA 5 Heist Guide: The Jewel Store Job

GTA 5 Heist Guide is one of the best ways to make the most money in the story mode (Image via Rockstar Games)

The maximum take for this story mode heist is $4,946,153. Here is the jewel store heist's best approach to making the most money:

Choose the Smart Approach
Choose Karim Denz as the driver
Choose Packie McReary as the gunman
Choose Ricky Lukens as the hacker

Taking any other driver or gunman can result in a part of the cut being dropped during the heist.

2) GTA 5 Heist Guide: The Merryweather Heist

Grand Theft Auto 5 Heist Guide 2025 (Image via Rockstar Games)

The Maximum take for this heist is $20,000,000; however, no protagonist will get any money due to narrative reasons. This means that there is no particular way to do this heist in Grand Theft Auto 5 story mode.

That being said, if you choose the Freighter approach, kill all the guards with a Sniper (as Franklin) before the two on the extreme right of the ship. This will make this heist a little less chaotic.

The ending cutscene of this particular approach also features one of Lester’s most hilarious moments in the game.

3) GTA 5 Heist Guide: The Paleto Score

GTA V Heist Guide (Image via Rockstar Games)

The maximum take for this Grand Theft Auto 5 bank heist is $8,016,020. Choose Norm Richards or Daryl Johns as the gunman to earn the most money. Here are some things to keep in mind:

You will lose money every time you get shot in the back, so try to be quick and avoid taking as much damage as possible.
Also, keep in mind that your gunman will get killed by a cop car in the Paleto Bay heist. When that happens, make sure to pick up the bag dropped by him.

4) GTA 5 Heist Guide: The Bureau Raid

The maximum take for this story mode heist is $331,985. Here are the associates and the best approach you should pick for making the most money:

Step 1 - Choose the Roof Entry approach.
Step 2 - Choose Taliana Martinez as the driver. She will show up in an ambulance, and you won’t need to lose cops to finish the heist.
Step 3 - Choose the gunman with the lowest cut
Step 4 - Choose Ricky Lukens as the hacker

Note that Michael will not make any money in this heist due to narrative reasons.

5) GTA 5 Heist Guide: The Big Score

GTA V Heist Guide 2025 (Image via Rockstar Games)

The Big Score is the last bank heist in GTA 5 story mode and pays the most money. The maximum take for this heist is $201,600,000 and these are the choices you must make:

Choose the Obvious approach
Choose Taliana Martinez as Driver 1 and Karim Denz as Driver 2. You must make these selections in this particular order, as mixing it up can result in losing a big portion of the take.
Choose the gunmen with the lowest cut.

6) GTA 5 Heist Guide: Blitz Play

A promotional picture of Grand Theft Auto 5 (Image via Rockstar Games)

This one isn’t a heist per se and is more like a typical story mission. You also won’t be paid anything from this heist, much like the Merryweather Heist in Grand Theft Auto V story mode.

However, it is quite action-packed at the very least and will feature all three protagonists. You can switch between all three of them, and doing it 10 times will fulfill the Switcher Gold Medal Objective.

In addition to the monetary gain, using this GTA 5 Heist Guide can keep you rich in Los Santos as you wait for Grand Theft Auto 6’s release. In fact, doing them as suggested in this article can also make them feel fresh if you employ a different approach during your initial playthrough.

Edited by Saman