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Turtle BeachMay 13, 2022

GTA Online Meth Lab: Best Payout, Location and Is It Worth It

 

Guides

GTA ONLINE METH LAB: BEST PAYOUT, LOCATION AND IS IT WORTH IT

GTA Online Meth Lab: Best Payout, Location and Is It Worth It

 

May 13, 2022

One of GTA Online’s first major updates came with the Bikers DLC in 2016 which allowed players to run their own Motorcycle Club. Once you’re the MC Clubhouse president you’ll also have access to ‘The Open Road’ online network, which acts as a sort of dark web set up by Lester Crest.

From here you can purchase and operate several illicit businesses which are scattered across San Andreas in Blaine County and Los Santos, including the option to start a Methamphetamine Lab.

These businesses might not be as lucrative as some of the game’s more recent heists, but they do provide a good source of passive income, so are well worth the time and money you’ll invest. Read on, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to set up your Meth lab in GTA Online, including the best location to pick, the upgrades to buy and the max payout you can earn.

How To Setup A Meth Lab Business

Each business requires an initial set-up mission specific to the type of business purchased and for your Meth Lab, you’ll need to drive to a location, grab a Pounder truck loaded with supplies and drive it back to the Lab.

Once you’ve completed this mission you’ll be able to start managing the business.

Do note that you can’t start properly turning a profit if you run out of supplies, as business production will stop. You’ll need to either buy more supplies for $15,000 per unit (up to a max of $75,000) or earn them at no cost via missions that allow you to steal supplies from another organization.

GTA Online Meth Lab Best Location

First off, here are the locations and prices of the various Meth Labs in GTA Online:

  • Grand Senora Desert ($910,000)
  • Paleto Bay ($1,024,800)
  • Terminal ($1,365,000)
  • El Burro Heights ($1,729,000)

Now, which one is best? Generally speaking, it doesn’t matter as no Meth Lab is ‘better’ than any other. The price of the Meth Lab business doesn’t affect your productivity or profitability, it’s simply the location of where it is based.

That being said, we think there’s a great benefit to being located centrally on the map as you’ll have shorter distances to cover when doing sale and supply runs.

We think Grand Senora Desert is the best Meth Lab location in GTA Online. It also happens to be the cheapest, meaning you can put some more cash towards those upgrades. We’ve marked its location on the map just below, along with the three other Meth Lab locations.

GTA Online Meth Lab Upgrades

Go to the laptop in your Meth Lab and you’ll be able to purchase upgrades, these can sometimes be quite costly, but they’ll vastly improve your productivity and profitability. The three upgrades you can purchase are listed below, along with their upgrade prices.

Meth Lab Upgrades
Upgrade Cost Description
Equipment Upgrade $1,100,000
Purchase this upgrade to install higher quality equipment. This will speed up your production rate, improve the overall value of your product and allow your supplies to stretch further.
Staff Upgrade $331,500
Purchase this upgrade to hire more staff. This will speed up your production rate and improve the overall value of your product.
Security Upgrade $513,000
Purchase this upgrade to install security personnel and surveillance equipment. This will reduce the likelihood of being raided by the cops or attacked by enemies.

As you can see, the amount of money you can make and the time it takes to make your profit will vastly improve with the purchase of the Staff and Equipment upgrades. The security upgrades are helpful, but they will not improve your profit margins or productivity.

GTA Online Meth Lab Max Payout

Obviously, the max payout for the Meth Lab will depend greatly on a few different variables. For instance, do you have any upgrades and if so, which? Are you selling close to the Meth Lab or far away? Finally, are you buying your supplies, or are you stealing them?

The optimal way to make the max payout will be to have both upgrades, selling far away and stealing your supplies. Below you’ll find a table to help you work out the best max payout

Upgrade Upgrade Cost Unit Profit Minutes per Unit Capacity Sell Local Sell Remote Profit per Hour
No Upgrade $0 $8,500 30 20 $170,000 $255,000 $21,000
Security Upgrade $513,000 $8,500 30 20 $170,000 $255,000 $21,000
Equipment Upgrade $1,100,000 $10,200 24 20 $204,000 $306,000 $32,000
Staff Upgrade $331,500 $10,200 24 20 $204,000 $306,000 $32,000
Equipment/Staff Upgrade $1,431,500 $11,900 18 20 $238,000 $357,000 $51,500
All Upgrades $1,944,500 $11,900 18 20 $238,000 $357,000 $51,500

Is The Meth Lab Worth It In GTA Online

The Meth Lab is the second best business you can run – behind the Cocaine Lockup – as a Motorcycle Club President, because it offers the second-highest max payout. It is absolutely worth it.

Assuming players opt for the Grand Senora Desert location and buy both upgrades, you’re looking at a total setup cost of $2,341,500, but you should make your money back within 39 hours. From then on, it’s pure profit.

We would strongly advise starting a meth lab business in GTA Online, arguably at the expense of the Weed Farm, Document Forgery Office or Counterfeit Cash Factory, which don’t really offer enough payout to warrant how much work you need to put in.

GTA Online Meth Lab Not Producing?

As per Rockstar Support, here’s some help to get your Meth Lab producing product again if it stops working.

Question: What can I do if my Motorcycle Club Business will not produce any product?

Answer: Whether you are managing your business through the Nightclub or running it out of your Motorcycle Club, here are a few things to check to be sure your business can produce product.

Make sure all of the following conditions are met:

  • The Set-Up Mission for the particular business has been completed
  • The Business has supplies available
  • If you are managing the Business from the Nightclub, a Nightclub Technician should be assigned to the desired product (Cocaine, Counterfeit Cash, Forged Documents, Methamphetamine, or Weed)
  • You are playing in a public session
  • You are playing while registered as a Motorcycle Club President

You should see your product level increase after 30 to 50 minutes of play – depending on the product.

If the business continues to not produce any product, you can try the following steps:

  1. Shut down the Business
  2. Play online in a public session for more than 30 minutes
  3. Re-open the Business and play as a Motorcycle Club President, making sure the conditions above are met

That’s everything you need to know about the GTA Online Meth Lab. If you’re looking for more GTA guides then follow the links below for more helpful tips, tricks and explainers.

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