EU5: How to upgrade towns

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In Europa Universalis 5, farms are important for food, but towns and cities are what really drive economic growth. They turn basic materials into valuable goods and provide the facilities needed for trade. While it’s fairly simple to found cities in the game, the complex interface can make figuring out how to do it a bit tricky.

How to upgrade towns in EU5

To turn a Rural Settlement into a Town, you need at least 5,000 people living there. You’ll also have to pay for the upgrade, so check that your local Market has all the required materials.

Once everything’s set up correctly, I just find the town on the map and then click the little star icon right next to its name at the top of the screen – it’s above the picture of the town itself. That saves it for me!

Rural Settlements are important for growing food and are very effective at gathering resources from the surrounding area due to their larger capacity. They also help your population grow faster. However, these settlements mainly house Peasants and Laborers, limiting the number of advanced buildings you can build that need skilled workers like Nobles, Clerics, or Burghers.

To help your country grow, you need to develop your smaller settlements into Towns. Towns attract wealthier citizens, allow for more advanced buildings, and give you greater control – meaning you can collect more taxes. However, turning farms into Towns reduces food production, so don’t convert all of your agricultural areas. Finding the right balance between development and food supply is key.

Towns can be upgraded to Cities, which allow for a larger population of advanced citizens and higher building limits. Cities also offer increased Control and speed up population growth, ultimately becoming hubs for commerce, industry, and culture.

Upgrading from a Town to a City works just like upgrading from a Rural Settlement to a Town, but you’ll need a larger population and more resources to do it.

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2025-11-04 20:22