Heist Payout Fundamentals
GTA 5's six story heists pay wildly different amounts depending on approach choice, crew selection, and preparation decisions. Understanding the variables and optimising each one can multiply your earnings significantly compared to a default playthrough.
The Jewel Store Job
Choose the Smart approach (requires prep time but pays more). Hire Gustavo Mota as gunman (14% cut, highly capable) and Karim Denz as driver (8% cut, adequate for this job). Optimal payout with Smart approach: approximately $4.9M split across Michael and Franklin. The Loud approach is faster but yields meaningfully less.
The Paleto Score
The Paleto Score has fixed payout with most going to Lester and crew expenses. Hire the cheapest capable gunmen to maximise your cut: Norm Richards or Daryl Johns. The approach is linear with no method choice, so crew cost optimisation is the only financial lever.
The Big Score — The One That Matters
Choose the Obvious approach with an experienced gunmen pair (Packie McReary + Gustavo Mota, 12% + 14% cut) and best driver (Taliana Martinez, 7% cut). This yields approximately $41.6M per character. Subtract crew costs and you keep roughly $35–37M each. The Subtle approach yields less despite a different setup investment. Before this heist: invest all cash in specific stocks as directed by the assassination mission sequence for maximum multiplied profits.
Online Heist Payouts
In GTA Online, the Diamond Casino Heist pays up to $3.6M on hard mode with artwork as the target. Pacific Standard yields $500K+ on hard with full crew. Cayo Perico remains the overall best earner at $1M+ per hour when farmed efficiently. Always host rather than join for better payout allocation control.