Stability is a resource in Humankind that represents the public order. It is represented as a percentage and thus cannot be below 0% or over 100%. Each of an Empire's Cities has a Stability value, along with one value for the entire Empire. Low Stability can lead to your Population deserting your Cities or even revolution.
City stability[]
Each City has a Stability value. Most changes to a City's Stability do not directly impact the actual Stability but instead, modify the target Stability. The actual Stability of the City trends towards this value at a base rate of 5Stability per turn. The negative trend can be reduced to -4Stability per turn with the Forfeiture option of the Punishment Civic. All Districts (except for the Commons Quarter, Garrison, Resource Extractors, and certain Emblematic Districts) give -10Stability, and each attached Territories on a City gives -20Stability. Certain affinities (namely, Builder and Agrarian), provide instant Stability, increasing the actual Stability of the City whenever a condition is fulfilled.
Calculating surplus stability[]
The Base Value of a City's Stability is a variable that can be used to calculate a City's surplus, or extra Stability above 100%. It is listed in the Stability tooltip of the city screen, under Gains or Losses. Use this to check if a City can handle more districts or territories while maintaining Settled status.
Example Base Value | Surplus Stability | Total Stability |
---|---|---|
40 | 0 | ≤ 100% |
0 | 40 | 140% |
-100 | 140 | 240% |
City stability ranges[]
Mutinous[]

Unit rebelled from Byblos because of low Stability
0-29%Stability
- Cannot build new Districts. Districts in the construction queue have their construction frozen
- Population will desert your City, turning into crisis Independent People. The delay between desertions can be increased with the Physical Punishment option of the Punishment Civic
- Higher likelihood of negative Narrative Events
Strained[]
30-90%Stability
- Equal chance of negative and positive Narrative Events
- +1Influence per Population
Settled[]
91-100%Stability
- Higher likelihood of positive Narrative Events
- +2Influence per Population
Stability effects on a city[]
- +4Stability per Luxury on a City's Main Plaza.
- +5Stability per Unit within the City's borders. (only the largest army counts)
- +5Stability on Garrison (can be improved)
- +5Stability on Commons per adjacent Base Districts
- +20Stability per Holy Site and Wonder
- -20Stability per attached Territory
- -10Stability per most Districts
- -1Stability per turn (adds up each turn), when Influence per turn is negative
- -1Stability per turn (adds up each turn), when Money per turn is negative
- See more in: City Statuses
Empire stability[]
The global Stability of an Empire depends on the Stability of each of its cities. If the Empire Stability is low for several turns, a Revolution will happen, which will slow down your economy and reset all your civics.