Mayor rating is the factor in the SimCity series that determines how much your Sims like you. Having a high mayor rating means that your sims are happy and content with your decisions, whereas having a poor mayor rating may mean the opposite. The Mayor Rating panel on the SimCity 4 dashboard, which consists of 2 sides with a central base. If the bar is green, it means that you have a positive mayor rating, and the more green bars there are, the higher the rating. If it's red and going left, it means that your sims are fairly displeased with your actions, and similarly, the more red bars there are, the worse your rating is.
It is extremely difficult to achieve -100 mayor rating (the lowest the game has to offer) without the use of external modifications, but even then, you won't be removed from office (as the only time you are removed is when your city's treasury sinks too far into the negatives). There are many factors that contribute to the increasing and decreasing of mayor rating, listed below.
Factors that increase mayor rating[]
- Succeeding good U-Drive It missions
- Lowering taxes
- Building parks, zoos, stadiums, marinas
- Placing landmarks
- Constructing schools and hospitals
- Lowering an area's crime rate with police stations
- Placing good reward buildings
- Enacting good city ordinances
- Low pollution
Factors that decrease mayor rating[]
Short-term factors[]
- Succeeding evil U-Drive It missions
- Failing any U-Drive It mission
- Raising taxes
- Not responding to a disaster
- Fires
- Riots
Long-term factors[]
- Underfunding your civic buildings
- Low educational quotient (EQ)
- Low healthcare quotient
- A high crime rate
- High pollution levels
- Traffic congestion
- Too many abandoned buildings
- High unemployment
- Poor sanitation