A player's population lies at the heart of all Anno titles, and provides the player with the workforce and tax income necessary to sustain their cities and creations. At the start of a game, the player's population is little more than a gathering of humble farmers living in huts, but like in all Anno titles that came before it, is able to guide them across a social ladder by supplying them with their needs. This allows the population to evolve into new, more advanced social classes, which will be reflected by the quality of their dwellings. These different social classes are referred to as population tiers. By reaching milestones in population sizes and tiers, more features and buildings are unlocked.
The global number of inhabitants living inside a player's empire, is shown at the top of the screen, next to the population symbol 
. Hovering over this symbol with the mouse, breaks this information down into separate tiers.
When hovering over an island, its population status appears at the top of the screen (see picture below).
When hovering over an island, the center-top bar will show a portrait of the highest population class. The lower strip breaks down the number of people who belong to each population class, represented by their associated icon.
Population Tiers[]
In Anno 1800, there are five population tiers in the Old World (seven with DLCs), two in the New World, two in The Arctic and two in Enbesa. Each resides in a 3x3 house (except Scholar Residences which size is 4x4) and has different needs.
Old World[]
Farmers[]
Workers[]
Artisans[]
Engineers[]
Tourists[]
Tourists are a new Resident Tier in the Old World who stay in your city over night – in contrast to Visitors who only arrive for a day trip. They should not feel like a new working class, they demand more services and need to be more pampered.
Investors[]
The fifth and final tier, Investors are the wealthy elite, members of an upper class who have built fortunes off inheritances or their wit and bare hands.
Scholars[]
Scholars represent a typical international student, hailing from distant Enbesa and other parts of the world. Instead of being an upgrade from another tier, their residences require a construction permit which needs to be researched at the Research Institute. They do not provide income, but instead generate a constant stream of Research Points.
New World[]
Jornaleros[]
Obreros[]
Artistas[]
The Arctic[]
Explorers[]
The first tier of The Arctic population, Explorers have come to the Arctic to challenge themselves, honor the stories of their fathers and appreciate the innate beauty of the North Pole.
Technicians[]
The second tier of The Arctic population, Technicians have come to the Arctic in search of the scientific breakthrough that will finally give them the recognition they crave.
Enbesa[]
Shepherds[]
Shepherds are the first of two residential tiers in the Enbesa. They love nature and stories by the campfire, while city life and politics seems to tire them. Their skills lie in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Elders[]
Being the second Enbesan residential tier, Elders’ experiences in life have given them an altogether dourer outlook on things. While they can be harsh and judgmental, their poignancy belies a caring nature towards those who manage to earn their respect.
Needs[]
Your population has certain needs and satisfying them is one of the main objectives in Anno. Population needs in Old World and New World are divided into two categories: basic needs and luxury needs. Population needs in The Arctic work differently and are instead, divided into basic needs and heat.
Fulfilling basic needs increases the number of inhabitants in each house. Houses have to be full in order to advance them to higher population tiers so satisfying all basic needs is necessary.
Fulfilling luxury needs makes your population happy and pay higher taxes in return. Satisfying luxury needs is optional as people don't need to be happy to advance.
Fulfilling heat - the need to stay warm - will also make the Arctic population pay higher taxes, but instead of raising happiness, this will help prevent outbreaks of the Arctic Flu.
Failure to fulfill a requested basic need or luxury need will result in the Newspaper Editor publishing an article that increased the consumption rate of goods by 10% in Old World and New World. This can be countered using propaganda.
See: needs for more information.
Happiness[]
The happiness of your population is an important indicator of how they perceive your leadership. Residents do not require full happiness to advance to the next population tier; only their basic needs must be fulfilled. However, happy residents are less likely to riot, can offer you quests and can organize festivals that provide useful buffs to the islands' residents, production, or attractiveness.
There is no happiness rating in the Arctic.
See: happiness for more information.
Advancement[]
There are a few requirements that residences have to meet to be able to advance to the next tier:
- residences have to be full
- all basic needs must be fulfilled
- enough construction material has to be available
Unlike in previous Anno games, your people don't have to be happy to advance. Your population can be unhappy or even angry and you can still advance to higher tiers as long as all requirements are met.
To advance a residence you can choose a building and press the upgrade button or you can use the upgrade tool and click on one or several residences at once. After choosing the upgrade tool, green arrows will appear over residences which can be upgraded. In the game settings to you can also choose to see these arrows all the time.
Theoretically you can upgrade all residences to higher tiers. However, you need workforce from all tiers to enable your production buildings to operate. It is advised to keep a surplus of all workforce types when upgrading residences.
| Residence type | Construction costs | Upgrade costs |
|---|---|---|
| Old World | ||
| Farmers residences | 2 
|
4
|
| Workers residences | 6
|
6 2  2 
|
| Artisans residences | 12 2 2
|
8 3 2 2 
|
| Engineers residences | 20 5 4 2
|
10 4 3 3 3 
|
| Hotels | 120 95 80 55
|
|
| Investors residences | 30 9 7 5 3
| |
| Scholars residences | 1  10 15 12 10
|
|
| New World | ||
| Jornaleros residences | 1
|
2
|
| Obreros residences | 3
|
|
| The Arctic | ||
| Explorers shelters | 2
|
4
|
| Technicians shelters | 6
|
|
| Enbesa | ||
| Shepherd Residence | 1 
|
2
|
| Elder Residence | 3
|
|
Profile level[]
The global population of your empire determines the profile level of each game save. These indicate the available amount of influence and reaching higher levels are required to unlock more powerful propaganda articles.
See: Profile level for more information.
Island level[]
Each island has a certain level which depends on the number of inhabitants of the highest tier living on the island. It's displayed at the top of the screen, right after the attractiveness status of the island.
| Island's Level | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Old World | |
| Settlement | none |
| Village | 100  Farmers
|
| Port Town | 150  Workers
|
| City | 500  Artisans
|
| Capital | 500  Engineers
|
| Metropolis | 1750  Investors
|
| New World | |
| Settlement | none |
| Town | 200  Jornaleros
|
| Colony | 600  Obreros
|
| The Arctic | |
| Settlement | none |
| Camp | 250  Explorers
|
| Outpost | 1000  Technicians
|
| Enbesa | |
| Settlement | none |
| District | 150  Shepherds
|
| Major District | 600  Elders
|
Trivia
The in game representation of Investor resembles Van der Luyden male character from the 1993 movie "The Age of Innocence"