In Cities: Skylines II, homes and shops are only part of the job. Service Buildings are the public facilities that keep a city running, from power plants and water pumps to clinics, schools, fire stations, police and post offices. Citizens will move away if they go without power or clean water for long, and businesses slow down or shut down when they lose their supplies. Knowing what each Service Building does, and what your residents need in return, is what makes a city people want to live in.
Service category
Electricity
Transformer Station
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Electricity Services
- Build cost
- ₡30,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡3,000
- Capacity or output
- 80 MW
- Main effect
- Converts high-voltage power into low-voltage electricity for the city grid.
- Upgrades
- -
Wind Turbine
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Electricity Services
- Build cost
- ₡25,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡7,500
- Capacity or output
- Up to 5 MW
- Main effect
- Generates power from wind without fuel; output varies with wind conditions.
- Upgrades
- Battery extension; solar assist; advanced rotor system.
Small Coal Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Electricity Services
- Build cost
- ₡100,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡5,000
- Capacity or output
- 20 MW; 20 t fuel storage
- Main effect
- Burns coal for a modest power supply and creates air pollution.
- Upgrades
- -
Gas Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Gas Power Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡650,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡300,000
- Capacity or output
- 250 MW; 5 t fuel storage
- Main effect
- Burns natural gas to produce electricity.
- Upgrades
- Storage extension; advanced furnace; exhaust filter; additional turbine.
Emergency Battery Station
- Unlock requirement
- Emergency Battery Station development node
- Build cost
- ₡150,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡25,000
- Capacity or output
- 500 MW storage; 200 MW output
- Main effect
- Stores surplus electricity for demand spikes and outages.
- Upgrades
- Additional battery bank; diesel generator.
Coal Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Coal Power Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡75,000
- Capacity or output
- 300 MW; 0.5 kt fuel storage
- Main effect
- Burns coal to produce high-voltage electricity and creates heavy pollution.
- Upgrades
- Coal storage yard; additional turbine; advanced furnace; exhaust filter.
Geothermal Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Geothermal Power Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡750,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡150,000
- Capacity or output
- Up to 150 MW
- Main effect
- Uses underground heat to generate electricity without fuel.
- Upgrades
- Additional turbine; binary-cycle power plant; high-voltage substation.
Solar Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Solar Power Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,500,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡150,000
- Capacity or output
- Up to 200 MW, including battery output
- Main effect
- Generates power from sunlight and stores some electricity for later use.
- Upgrades
- Battery backup; advanced tracking system; high-voltage substation.
Nuclear Power Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Nuclear Power Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡5,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡500,000
- Capacity or output
- 750 MW
- Main effect
- Produces a very large amount of electricity without burning fuel or polluting the air and ground, and needs a large supply of cooling water.
- Upgrades
- -
Hydroelectric Power Plant
- Build cost
- ₡1,575,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡50,000
- Capacity or output
- Up to 20 MW
- Main effect
- Uses flowing water to generate electricity; output depends on river conditions.
Service category
Water & Sewage
Water Pumping Station
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Water & Sewage Services
- Build cost
- ₡25,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡5,000
- Capacity or output
- 100,000 water/month
- Main effect
- Pumps surface water into the city network.
- Upgrades
- Extra pump.
Water Tower
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Water & Sewage Services
- Build cost
- ₡60,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡15,000
- Capacity or output
- 30,000 water/month
- Main effect
- Supplies water to the network from a storage tower that can be placed away from a shoreline.
- Upgrades
- Viewing deck.
Groundwater Pumping Station
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Water & Sewage Services
- Build cost
- ₡40,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡10,000
- Capacity or output
- 75,000 water/month
- Main effect
- Pumps water from underground deposits; filtering can reduce contamination.
- Upgrades
- Extra pump; advanced filtering system.
Advanced Water Pumping Station
- Unlock requirement
- Advanced Water Pumping Station development node
- Build cost
- ₡240,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡47,500
- Capacity or output
- 1,000,000 water/month
- Main effect
- Pumps a high volume of surface water into the city network.
- Upgrades
- -
Sewage Outlet
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Water & Sewage Services
- Build cost
- ₡25,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡10,000
- Capacity or output
- 100,000 sewage/month
- Main effect
- Discharges wastewater into open water, creating water pollution.
- Upgrades
- Chemical purification; extra settling tank.
Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Water Treatment Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡400,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡60,000
- Capacity or output
- 400,000 sewage/month; 50% purification
- Main effect
- Treats sewage and returns purified water to the network; removed pollutants become garbage.
- Upgrades
- Advanced filtering system; extra processing unit.
Service category
Healthcare
Medical Clinic
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Healthcare Services
- Build cost
- ₡60,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡20,000
- Capacity or output
- 100 patients; 5 ambulances
- Main effect
- Treats sick and injured residents and provides a local health benefit.
- Upgrades
- Ambulance depot; extension wing.
Hospital
- Unlock requirement
- Hospital development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,880,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡225,000
- Capacity or output
- 500 patients; 30 ambulances
- Main effect
- Provides high-capacity healthcare and can respond to accidents across the city.
- Upgrades
- Helipad; trauma center; specialized treatment ward.
Disease Control Center
- Unlock requirement
- Disease Control Center development node
- Build cost
- ₡2,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡175,000
- Capacity or output
- 250 patients; 15 ambulances; 2 medical helicopters
- Main effect
- Reduces city-wide disease infection risk by 25% and health effects from pollution by 25%; treats patients and can dispatch 15 ambulances and 2 medical helicopters.
- Upgrades
- -
Health Research Institute
- Unlock requirement
- Health Research Institute development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡80,000
- Main effect
- Researches health and reduces disease risk while improving park entertainment city-wide.
Service category
Deathcare
Cemetery
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Healthcare Services
- Build cost
- ₡114,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡27,500
- Capacity or output
- 5,000 deceased in storage; 15 hearses
- Main effect
- Stores deceased residents and sends hearses; adds a nearby well-being benefit.
- Upgrades
- Temple; mausoleum; columbarium.
Crematorium
- Unlock requirement
- Crematorium development node
- Build cost
- ₡240,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡22,500
- Capacity or output
- 20 storage; 100 processing capacity
- Main effect
- Cremates deceased residents so remains do not occupy burial storage.
- Upgrades
- Hearse garage; additional incinerator; refrigerator expansion.
Service category
Garbage Management
Landfill
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Garbage Management Services
- Build cost
- ₡70,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡15,000
- Capacity or output
- 20 t storage; 100 t/month processing; 20 trucks
- Main effect
- Collects and stores waste while slowly processing it.
- Upgrades
- Garbage truck depot; hazardous waste collection point; waste recycling unit.
Incineration Plant
- Unlock requirement
- Incinerator Plant development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡105,000
- Capacity or output
- 3,000 t/month processing; 40 MW; 3 kt storage
- Main effect
- Burns garbage to generate electricity and produces air pollution.
- Upgrades
- Garbage truck depot; extra incinerator furnace; storage extension.
Recycling Center
- Unlock requirement
- Recycling Center development node
- Build cost
- ₡880,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡80,000
- Capacity or output
- 1.5 kt storage; 1,500 t/month processing; 15 trucks
- Main effect
- Sorts waste into reusable materials that can be sold to manufacturing companies.
- Upgrades
- Garbage truck depot; hazardous waste collection point; storage extension.
Industrial Waste Processing Site
- Unlock requirement
- Industrial Waste Processing development node
- Build cost
- ₡6,360,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡225,000
- Capacity or output
- 50 kt storage; 50,000 t/month industrial waste
- Main effect
- Collects hazardous industrial waste and reduces industrial ground pollution city-wide.
Service category
Education
Elementary School
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Education Services
- Build cost
- ₡100,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡12,500
- Capacity or output
- 1,000 students
- Main effect
- Provides the first education level for children and improves nearby family well-being.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; children’s clinic; playground.
High School
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Education Services
- Build cost
- ₡300,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡22,500
- Capacity or output
- 800 students
- Main effect
- Provides secondary education for teenagers.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; library; sports field.
College
- Unlock requirement
- College development node
- Build cost
- ₡750,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡75,000
- Capacity or output
- 1,000 students
- Main effect
- Provides the third level of education for teens and adults.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; library.
University
- Unlock requirement
- University development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,500,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡100,000
- Capacity or output
- 2,000 students
- Main effect
- Provides advanced education and increases industrial and office efficiency city-wide.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; library; university park.
Technical University
- Unlock requirement
- Technical University development node
- Build cost
- ₡1,600,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡80,000
- Capacity or output
- 1,500 students
- Main effect
- Provides technical higher education and increases industrial and office efficiency city-wide.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; workshop upgrade.
Medical University
- Unlock requirement
- Medical University development node
- Build cost
- ₡2,400,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡120,000
- Capacity or output
- 1,500 students
- Main effect
- Provides medical higher education, improves hospital efficiency, and reduces treatment failures city-wide.
- Upgrades
- Extension wing; research facilities; practice clinic.
Service category
Research
Radio Telescope
- Unlock requirement
- Radio Telescope development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡3,200,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡160,000
- Main effect
- Raises university graduation chance and interest in university education city-wide.
Geological Research Center
- Unlock requirement
- Geological Research Center development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡2,500,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡115,000
- Main effect
- Increases ore and oil deposits and college graduation chance city-wide.
Large Hadron Collider
- Unlock requirement
- Large Hadron Collider development node (8 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡4,000,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡200,000
- Main effect
- Raises university interest and software and electronics demand and production efficiency city-wide.
Service category
Fire & Rescue
Fire House
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Fire & Rescue Services
- Build cost
- ₡120,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡10,000
- Capacity or output
- 4 fire engines
- Main effect
- Reduces nearby fire risk and sends fire engines to fires.
- Upgrades
- Garage extension.
Fire Station
- Unlock requirement
- Fire Station development node
- Build cost
- ₡2,150,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡117,500
- Capacity or output
- 10 fire engines
- Main effect
- Provides large-area fire coverage and can send rescue teams to collapsed buildings.
- Upgrades
- Garage extension; training facilities; disaster response unit; helipad.
Firewatch Tower
- Unlock requirement
- Firewatch Tower development node
- Build cost
- ₡46,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡12,500
- Capacity or output
- 1 tower; local forest-fire coverage
- Main effect
- Watches wilderness areas, reduces forest-fire risk, and alerts firefighters.
- Upgrades
- -
Firefighting Helicopter Depot
- Unlock requirement
- Firefighting Helicopter Depot development node (2 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡1,224,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡72,500
- Capacity or output
- 5 firefighting helicopters
- Main effect
- Dispatches helicopters to fight forest and building fires.
Service category
Disaster Control
Small Emergency Shelter
- Unlock requirement
- Small Emergency Shelter development node (1 development point)
- Build cost
- ₡35,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡7,500
- Capacity or output
- 1,000 sheltered residents; 40 t storage
- Main effect
- Provides a place for residents to wait out disasters.
- Upgrades
- Advanced air recycling; extra consumables.
Large Emergency Shelter
- Unlock requirement
- Large Emergency Shelter development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡315,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡30,000
- Capacity or output
- 25,000 sheltered residents; 20 evacuation buses
- Main effect
- Houses many residents during long emergencies and sends buses during evacuations.
- Upgrades
- -
Early Disaster Warning System
- Unlock requirement
- Early Disaster Warning System development node (8 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡2,400,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡120,000
- Capacity or output
- -
- Main effect
- Warns residents before natural disasters and reduces city-wide disaster damage.
- Upgrades
- -
Service category
Police
Police Station
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Police & Administration Services
- Build cost
- ₡160,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡19,000
- Capacity or output
- 6 patrol cars; 25 jail cells
- Main effect
- Patrols neighborhoods, responds to crime, and holds arrested criminals.
- Upgrades
- Garage extension.
Police Headquarters
- Unlock requirement
- Police Headquarters development node
- Build cost
- ₡2,100,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡155,000
- Capacity or output
- 20 patrol cars; 100 jail cells
- Main effect
- Provides broad police coverage and can add helicopter patrols and jail capacity.
- Upgrades
- Garage extension; extra jail cells; helipad.
Prison
- Unlock requirement
- Prison development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡650,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡100,000
- Capacity or output
- 500 prisoners
- Main effect
- Houses convicted criminals and reduces nearby crime.
- Upgrades
- Prison wings; library and recreation center.
Central Intelligence Bureau
- Unlock requirement
- Central Intelligence Bureau development node (8 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡3,200,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡160,000
- Capacity or output
- 25 police cars; 100 jail cells
- Main effect
- Investigates serious crime and reduces crime while improving response city-wide.
Service category
Administration
Welfare Office
- Unlock requirement
- Welfare Office development node (1 development point)
- Build cost
- ₡110,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡22,500
- Capacity or output
- 20,000 service capacity
- Main effect
- Supports residents in hardship and improves nearby well-being.
- Upgrades
- -
City Hall
- Unlock requirement
- City Hall development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡1,600,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡80,000
- Capacity or output
- -
- Main effect
- Lowers loan interest and import costs city-wide.
- Upgrades
- City planning offices; city court.
Central Bank
- Unlock requirement
- Central Bank development node (8 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡2,400,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡120,000
- Capacity or output
- -
- Main effect
- Lowers loan interest and import costs and increases export profits city-wide.
- Upgrades
- -
Service category
Communications
Small Post Office
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Communications Services
- Build cost
- ₡75,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡7,500
- Capacity or output
- 25,000 kg mail storage; 4 post vans; 200 mailbox capacity
- Main effect
- Collects and distributes local mail with a small vehicle fleet.
- Upgrades
- Mail storage extension.
Post Office
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Communications Services
- Build cost
- ₡250,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡22,500
- Capacity or output
- 100,000 kg mail storage; 20 post vans; 500 mailbox capacity
- Main effect
- Collects and distributes mail and can store it before sorting or export.
- Upgrades
- Mail storage extension; post van garage.
Post Sorting Facility
- Unlock requirement
- Post Sorting Facility development node (2 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡650,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡40,000
- Capacity or output
- 500,000 kg storage; 50,000 kg/month sorting; 5 post trucks
- Main effect
- Sorts mail into local and long-distance mail before delivery or export.
- Upgrades
- Automated sorting; extra loading ramps; mail storage extension.
Radio Mast
- Unlock requirement
- Basic Communications Services
- Build cost
- ₡25,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡5,000
- Capacity or output
- 3,000 Gbit/s; 1 km range
- Main effect
- Provides wireless internet coverage to nearby residents and businesses.
- Upgrades
- Bandwidth increase; wireless network antenna.
Server Farm
- Unlock requirement
- Server Farm development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡200,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡20,000
- Capacity or output
- 30,000 Gbit/s; 2 km range
- Main effect
- Provides network bandwidth and coverage; can be expanded with fiber and server capacity.
- Upgrades
- Fiber-optic cable; server upgrade.
Telecom Tower
- Unlock requirement
- Telecom Tower development node (4 development points)
- Build cost
- ₡125,000
- Monthly upkeep
- ₡12,500
- Capacity or output
- 20,000 Gbit/s; 5 km range
- Main effect
- Provides long-range wireless coverage and high network capacity.
- Upgrades
- -
What Service Buildings Do for Your City
Service Buildings meet the everyday needs of the people who live and work in your city. Most homes and businesses rely on them for power, clean water, healthcare, schools, and protection from crime and fire. Together they keep residents content and safe, which is what lets the rest of the city grow.
It can be tempting to place a little of everything everywhere, but that gets costly and adds only small benefits. Services also don't raise land value directly, the way they did in the original Cities: Skylines. Instead, they meet the needs of residents and companies, who are then willing to pay higher rent in the area, and that is what lifts land value.
Those needs differ from group to group. Senior citizens want places to spend their free time, families with children look for schools nearby, and working-age residents want quick trips to work. Companies care about efficiency and profit, so services that keep them running well matter to them.
How Service Buildings Cover Your Neighborhood
Most Service Buildings have a passive effect, which means they help the streets around them just by being there. A police station lowers crime in its own neighborhood, and a healthcare building gives nearby residents a health boost. That effect spreads along the roads, so it follows the street network rather than stopping at the building's edge.
The wider reach comes from moving parts. Patrol cars, ambulances and fire engines leave the building to cover the city, and citizens visit some buildings in person. That's why a single police station covers its own streets passively, while its patrol cars can reach across the whole city.
Three things decide how strong a passive effect is. Range is how far along the roads it travels, capacity is a rough measure of how many people it reaches, and strength is how powerful it is at its peak. Capacity runs out quickly in dense apartment districts but stretches far where homes are spread out. The effect is at full strength across most of its range and fades near the edge, so overlapping coverage is worth it if you want the best results.
You can also assign a Service Building to one or more districts, which limits its vehicles and visits to those areas. Services with no district assignment cover the whole city. Even when a building serves several districts, its passive effect still reaches only its own neighborhood.
What Keeps Service Buildings Working Well
Every Service Building has an efficiency level, which shows how well it's performing. Efficiency sets how many people or vehicles a building can handle, how fast it works, and how much it puts out. Staff matter too. Workers who are healthy, happy and suitably educated keep efficiency up, while sick workers or people with the wrong education pull it down.
Water and electricity are the basics. A building that lacks one of them loses a large share of its efficiency, and a building that lacks both stops working altogether. Fuel and other supplies count as well, so a power plant that runs out of fuel loses much of its efficiency.
Each service category has a budget slider in the Economy panel, and it applies equally to every building in that category. Raising it boosts efficiency across the board, so buildings can serve more people, but it costs more to run. Lowering it saves money and trims efficiency and vehicle use, which suits a small town that doesn't need the full force of a service yet.
Power Plants and Electricity in Cities: Skylines II
Electricity is one of the most important services, and demand climbs as your city grows. It also rises on very hot and very cold days, because air conditioning and heating both use power. Power moves through the city in two forms. Low-voltage cables serve the buildings, and most road types have them built in, while high-voltage power lines carry large amounts from big plants and can link you to neighboring cities.
A Transformer Station joins the two networks. It converts high-voltage power into the low-voltage electricity your buildings use, and it can run the other way for export. Each station has a total limit on how much power it can convert.
When one part of the city has only a few links to the grid, power can run short there. That's called a bottleneck. The fix is to add more connections, such as extra cables or roads, or to place a Transformer Station beyond the bottleneck and connect it straight to the plant with a power line.
Plants come in a few groups. Wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric plants use natural sources and make little pollution, but their output depends on conditions. Wind needs wind, solar output drops at night, geothermal needs a groundwater deposit, and hydro needs fast-moving river water. Coal and gas plants burn fuel and create pollution, though gas burns cleaner than coal. Nuclear plants produce huge amounts of power without fuel, but they are expensive and need plenty of water for cooling.
Early on, a Small Coal Power Plant suits a young town. As demand grows, a full-size Coal Power Plant takes over, and one large plant costs less to build and run than the many small ones it would replace.
Plants that burn coal or gas need fuel brought in by truck, either from local Specialized Industry areas or from outside connections. Local production means less truck traffic but more pollution and land use, while imports keep that pollution out of town but cost more over time. Trucks must reach the plants before the fuel runs out, so the roads matter. Emergency Battery Stations store extra power when production runs ahead of demand and release it during spikes, which helps prevent blackouts.
Water, Sewage and Garbage Management
Water comes from two places. Surface water in rivers, lakes and oceans can be pumped from the shoreline by a Water Pumping Station, which keeps a steady output unless the water level drops a lot. For a large city, the Advanced Water Pumping Station pumps about ten times as much as the regular station.
Groundwater sits in underground deposits that exist on every map. A Groundwater Pumping Station has to sit on top of one to draw from it. Deposits refill over time, but they can run dry temporarily if you pump faster than they refill, and ground pollution spreads through a whole deposit once it touches one.
A Water Tower is the fallback. It can supply a limited amount of water from anywhere on the map and ignores pollution, but it is costly to maintain compared with other water facilities.
Every city produces roughly as much sewage as the water it uses, and that sewage needs a way out. If it backs up, it floods apartments, makes citizens sick and drags down the efficiency of nearby businesses. A Sewage Outlet is the cheap option, but it sends untreated water into open water, so keep it well away from your clean water intake. A Wastewater Treatment Plant is the cleaner route, since it purifies the sewage and returns the water to the network.
Garbage comes from every building, and the amount depends on the building's type, size and level, along with how educated its residents are. Garbage trucks carry it to garbage facilities. Landfills store waste and process it slowly but take up valuable land, while Recycling Centers process it faster and turn it into materials that factories can reuse.
Incineration Plants burn garbage to make electricity, but they release a lot of air pollution. Place landfills and incinerators far from homes and, where you can, downwind, so pollution doesn't drift into residential areas. The pollutants removed at Wastewater Treatment Plants also end up at these sites as solid waste.
Healthcare and Deathcare Services
Clinics and hospitals treat sick and injured residents, and they give homes nearby a health boost. Patients who can't travel on their own are carried in by ambulance, and ambulances also respond to traffic accidents. Bigger facilities treat more patients, and specialist buildings such as the Health Research Institute and the Disease Control Center lower disease risk across the whole city.
Healthcare runs on supplies as well. Medical facilities use pharmaceuticals while they treat patients, and when those run out, the treatment bonus shrinks. Citizens' health is also shaped by pollution, past illnesses and injuries, and garbage that is left uncollected. A sick resident can't work, which lowers the efficiency of the business that employs them.
Deathcare handles what comes next. Citizens can die of old age, from poor health, in traffic accidents, or when a building collapses, and hearses carry the deceased to a cemetery or crematorium. A cemetery gives residents a final resting place and a nearby well-being boost, while a crematorium cremates the dead so remains don't take up burial space.
Education and Research Buildings
Schooling is matched to age. Children go to an Elementary School whenever one is available, teens can attend a High School, and adults can choose a College or University or go straight to work. Many people weigh the money they would earn now against the higher pay a degree could bring, while others simply follow their interests.
Education levels matter because jobs need them. There are five levels, from uneducated up to highly educated, and each graduation moves a citizen up one. Companies and services fill jobs that need certain levels, and when there aren't enough qualified people, their efficiency and output drop. A highly educated worker can fill a lower job, but a less educated one can't fill a higher one.
Schools also help the neighborhood. An Elementary School gives nearby families with children a well-being boost, which encourages them to settle in the area. Universities and technical universities raise the efficiency of industry and offices across the city, and a medical university improves hospitals and reduces treatment failures.
Research buildings add further boosts. A Radio Telescope helps university students graduate, and the Large Hadron Collider raises interest in university while supporting software and electronics industries. If your city has no college or university nearby, residents may travel out of town to study, and some may move away for good.
Fire, Rescue and Disaster Response
A Fire House or Fire Station lowers fire risk in its area and sends engines to put out building fires. Fires spread quickly, so keep traffic moving. A fire engine stuck in a jam can't reach the blaze in time.
Forest fires need their own answer. Firewatch Towers keep watch over wilderness areas and lower forest fire risk nearby, and a Firefighting Helicopter Depot sends aircraft to fight both forest fires and building fires. That matters because forest fires can spread into nearby buildings and set them alight.
A Fire Station can also rescue people. With a Disaster Response Unit added, it can send crews to search collapsed buildings for trapped citizens.
Disaster Control adds warnings and shelter. The Early Disaster Warning System alerts residents before a natural disaster hits and reduces the damage across the city. Emergency Shelters give residents a safe place to wait out the danger, and large shelters can house many people and send buses to collect evacuees.
Police and City Administration
Police Stations and Police Headquarters respond to crimes in progress and try to catch the criminal at the scene. Bigger operations, such as the Central Intelligence Bureau, investigate serious crime across the city. Arrested criminals are held in jail, and some are sentenced to prison time.
A local Prison houses convicted criminals and reduces crime nearby, and its prisoners produce resources that manufacturers use. Without a local prison, convicts are sent to an outside connection to serve their time. Once they finish their sentence, they return to the city with their criminal status reset.
Crime also touches well-being. Every building creates a crime risk, and that risk affects the well-being of nearby residents, which in turn affects how likely some of them are to turn to crime. Power, water, sewage, pollution, garbage and a lack of leisure also shape well-being.
Administration buildings work on a city-wide scale. The Welfare Office helps residents who are struggling, boosting well-being for those whose happiness is below half. City Hall lowers loan interest and import costs across the city, and it can also cut crime and the cost of leveling up buildings. The Central Bank lowers loan and import costs while raising export profits.
Post Offices and Internet Towers
Post and internet services meet two different needs. Post Offices collect and deliver mail from mailboxes, homes and businesses, and residents feel better when they can send and receive letters. Businesses and city services also run more efficiently when their mail is collected and delivered.
Mail moves through the Post Office, which stores it until it can leave the city or go to a Post Sorting Facility. The sorting facility separates local mail from long-distance mail. Without one, everything sent from your city goes out as long-distance mail, and only mail arriving from outside can be delivered locally.
Telecom buildings bring internet access. Each resident uses a small share of network bandwidth, and every tower has its own capacity and range. Signal is strongest near the tower and fades with distance, and good coverage gives residents a recreation boost. Smaller masts reach only a short distance, while telecom towers and server farms reach further, and server farms add a lot of capacity.
Internet access also helps the economy. Shops make more sales when customers can shop online, and industrial companies get better deals from suppliers, which lowers their material costs.
Upkeep, Fees and Upgrades for Service Buildings
Every Service Building has an upkeep cost that you pay as it runs, and upgrades usually add to it. Upgrades also cost money to build, so it's worth asking what your city needs before adding one. A power plant far downwind from homes may not need an exhaust filter, while one close to the city center might.
Upgrades come in three kinds. Operational upgrades change how a building works without changing how it looks, such as an exhaust filter. Extensions are visible additions attached to the building that fit inside its lot and add capacity. Sub-buildings are separate structures on the lot, so they need extra space, and it's worth leaving room for them when you place the building.
Several services collect fees, including roads, electricity, water and sewage, healthcare, garbage, education and transportation. Electricity and water fees apply to citizens and companies alike, and you adjust them in the Economy panel. Lower fees make people happier and companies more profitable, but they also raise how much power and water get used, while higher fees do the opposite and can encourage saving. Healthcare visits, garbage pickup and schooling also cost residents money, with the Elementary School the cheapest and the University the most expensive.
Utilities don't have to be built locally. Electricity, water and sewage can be imported from neighboring cities through outside connections, and any surplus can be sold back. Imports cost money and take time for the service vehicles to arrive.
How to Unlock Service Buildings and Where to Start
Many starter buildings come from basic service unlocks, such as Basic Electricity Services, Basic Water & Sewage Services and Basic Healthcare Services. More advanced buildings unlock through development nodes in the development tree, and many of those nodes cost development points. The Welfare Office needs 1 point, while the Large Hadron Collider needs 8, so the costs vary a lot.
Start with power and water, because almost everything else depends on them. Build sewage alongside your water so waste doesn't back up into homes. From there, look at what your residents are asking for and add services to match, since families, workers and companies all have different needs.
Healthcare, schools, fire protection and police become more important as the city grows, and the most advanced buildings usually come last, once the basics are stable.
FAQ
How do I see what my citizens and companies need from services?
Hover over a household's Happiness icon in its Selected Info Panel to see what it needs, and hover over a company's Efficiency value to see what it's missing. You can also hover over a district's Happiness to see its benefits and drawbacks, which shows you where a service might help most.
Why does a building still have no power after I built a plant?
Open the Electricity info view and check its meters. The Electricity Availability meter compares what the city uses with what it makes, the Electricity Trade meter shows any power bought from or sold to neighboring cities, and the Battery Charge meter shows how much is stored. Hover over a power line or cable to see how much power is moving through it and its maximum capacity, which quickly reveals a bottleneck. Buildings are shaded in tones of yellow and orange based on how much power they use.
Can every Service Building be upgraded?
Almost every one can, but the Small Coal Power Plant can't be upgraded at all. If you expect demand to grow, a full-size Coal Power Plant can be expanded later with extra turbines, advanced furnaces and extra fuel storage, while the small plant stays as it is.
Do I have to build every Service Building myself?
No. Police and fire services can be imported, but those units travel in from outside the city, so they respond slowly and don't give the passive coverage a local station provides. If your city has no medical facility, citizens travel to an outside connection for treatment, and an ambulance comes from there for anyone too sick to travel. Hearses work the same way when there's no deathcare in the city.
