Resident Score Part 2: The Builders, Cities, and Scores Shaping Upland’s Future
September 09, 2025
Last week, we announced that a major milestone had quietly taken place in Upland: the Resident Score algorithm is now running in the background, actively tracking, scoring, and simulating resident movement across the metaverse. While it’s not yet visible in-app, the system is live and the data is already painting a fascinating picture of how neighborhoods and players are performing.
As we gear up for the launch of Resident Score, we’re diving deeper into what’s happening behind the scenes. In Part 2 of our breakdown, we’re highlighting top cities, landlords, and influence scores to show how the system is shaping up. But it’s important to remember: when residents officially arrive, the real focus will be on neighborhoods. Cities and players set the stage, but it’s the strength of individual neighborhoods that will ultimately determine where Uppies choose to live.
Exciting Feature Updates
Before we dive into the numbers, here are two major updates coming soon:
Service Units Will Be Visible: In the coming days, players will be able to see the exact number of Service Units each service structure provides. This information will appear during construction and will help builders better optimize their neighborhoods.
Home Address Pins on the Map: Home address pins are coming soon to the Upland map! These clickable pins will show who has set their home address in your neighborhood — giving key visibility to community engagement and helping players track neighborhood growth.
Top Ranking Cities
These five cities currently rank highest in combination of amount of residents and occupancy rate.
- Los Angeles
- Queens
- Las Vegas
- Chicago
- Manhattan
What This Tells Us:
These cities are leading not necessarily because they have the most residents, but because they’ve been built in a balanced, strategic way, with the right mix of all of the requirements to attract uppies.
If your city isn’t on this list, don’t worry, top ranking scores aren’t fixed. These rankings can and will shift as more players build with purpose. The real takeaway here is that any city can rise with the right mix of infrastructure, activity, and strategic planning.
Use these five cities as a reference point. Learn from what they’ve done well, then apply those lessons to elevate your own neighborhoods and help your city become a top destination for Uppies.
Most Populous Cities Today
Here are the five cities with the highest number of residents currently living in them:
- Los Angeles — 48,374
- Queens — 18,094
- Chicago — 14,409
- Las Vegas — 11,390
- New Orleans — 10,063
What This Tells Us:
The most populous cities, like Los Angeles, Queens, and New Orleans, highlight where large numbers of simulated residents are currently being placed, largely driven by past development activity. In fact, New Orleans saw a major surge last fall during a community challenge, which led to a significant increase in living unit construction.
But population alone doesn’t guarantee livability, or a high ranking score. Without the right mix of required infrastructure, even a well-built city can struggle to retain residents in the long run.
Take New Orleans: It’s in the top 5 for population, but not on the top ranking list. This suggests that while there’s plenty of housing, the infrastructure may not be keeping pace with resident needs.
This list shows where residents are landing today, but the real opportunity lies in shaping where they’ll go next. Whether you’re in a highly populated city or a newer market, the key to long-term success is the same, balance your builds. Prioritize strategic development, and create neighborhoods Uppies will want to call home.
Top Influence Scores
These players have the highest influence scores in Upland. Influence reflects how much infrastructure a player has built that will attract Uppies to a neighborhood,
- Accapropy
- dizzydski
- prospectgold
- drifter_
- uplandinger
- elijahjudah
- mentalhealst
- k3n666
- betz25
- anders68
What This Tells Us:
These players are residential magnets, even if they don’t top the charts in raw numbers, their builds are having a real impact. If your goal is to attract Uppies, watch how these players build: their use of service structures, smart placement, and balanced growth is clearly resonating with the algorithm.
Top Landlords in Upland
These are the players who currently have the most residents living in their structures:
- Abdullah86sa — 2,025
- Teeem — 1,974
- Dizzydski — 1,183
- Elijahjudah — 1,132
- Uplandinger — 1,112
- Cheezy_poof — 1,079
- Esero — 859
- Lakhe — 805
- Phoenixfini — 755
- Wamawa — 729
What This Tells Us:
These players have invested heavily in residential infrastructure and are already hosting significant resident populations. But to stay ahead, they’ll need to ensure the neighborhood infrastructure matches their residential growth, or risk losing residents to better-served neighborhoods.
Top Optimizers
These players have the best optimization ratios, meaning they yield high occupancy rates. This list only includes players with 100+ living units:
- Ann2queen2–47.16%
- Gareth5506–42.28%
- Mrfr — 41.83%
- Packasso — 41.10%
- Evku — 39.64%
- Dmp206–37.17%
- Gardnerc — 36.13%
- Propertyzamo — 35.29%
- Sulpiciois — 35.04%
- City_runner — 34.85%
What This Tells Us:
These players are not just building big, they’re building smart. By building in neighborhoods with better infrastructures, they’ve optimized for the amount of residents that reside in their living units.
These are the players to learn from if you’re aiming to maximize your occupancy rate.
Final Thoughts
The Resident Score system is already shaping how neighborhoods are viewed and valued by Uppies in Upland. From city-wide rankings to individual builder performance, the future belongs to those who build with purpose, not just for volume, but for livability.
Keep building smart, Uppies are watching.