The Best Settlements In Fallout 4

An interesting mechanic in Fallout 4 is the ability to assist the Minutemen in reclaiming the Wasteland via the creation of settlements for other wastelanders to live in. With enough elbow grease, you can carve out a mini-empire in the Commonwealth that will provide a steady supply of caps, supplies, items to buy, and even military assistance in battle. It's one of the best base-building games ever.

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Among all the settlements that are obtainable in the game, some rise to the top in terms of what they can offer you. Whether it’s a defensible area, land for crops, or pleasing esthetics, here are the best settlements in the game.

Updated on September 11, 2024: Choosing the best settlement Fallout 4 has to offer depends on your goals; are you looking for a cozy home base or an excellent supply line? Since Fallout 4's best settlement for you depends on your goals, we have a variety of excellent choices, including a spot where you'll encounter a beloved companion.

17 Hangman's Alley

A Great Location That's Highly Customizable

How To Unlock

Eliminate the raiders

When looking for a place to live, an alleyway isn't usually very appealing. Yet, Hangman's Alley isn't a bad settlement. It's far from being the best in the game, but the place is very customizable, giving you plenty of freedom to make it look and function how you want.

You can even make this a safe house for the Railroad if you choose to align with the

Also, it's brilliant in terms of location. While most other settlements are out of the way, this one is near several iconic places, like Diamond City. Not only is this useful when wandering around the Commonwealth, but it is also helpful for supply lines.

16 Red Rocket Truck Stop

Free And Ideal For A Sole Survivor

How To Unlock

Available by default

The Red Rocket Truck Stop is a very small settlement, so it's probably not the place you want as your main base. Yet, the location still has value. On top of that, it comes with an armor workbench, power armor station, chemistry station, cooking station, and weapons workbench.

You also encounter Dogmeat here, the dog companion who can accompany you on your journey.

Plus, if you need more room, you can build atop the roof. Overall, it's a nice compact place for the sole survivor to hang out, but not a good settlement for a full society.

15 Warwick Homestead

Highly Defensible With Farming Options

How To Unlock

Complete a quest for the Minutemen OR finish Building A Better Crop

The Warwick Homestead is an abandoned waste treatment plant converted into a settlement. The main building is rather large and, with some clever use of staircases and walkways, it can make for an interesting and highly defensible location.

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There is also a decent amount of farmland and the Warwick family will have a few gourd plants already in place.

As awful as it sounds to make a home out of a waste treatment plant, the Warwick Homestead is a decent place to house your allies and produce food.

14 Kingsport Lighthouse

Small But Easy To Defend

How To Unlock

Eliminate the children of Atom and the ghoul

The Kingsport Lighthouse has a medium-sized building area but already comes with a lighthouse, a home, a dock, and a small area of farmland. It also has natural defenses in the way of the ocean and rock ledges.

These force attackers to come either through the dock or the driveway, easy points to defend without having to be there.

Granted, it may not be the largest or most impressive settlement, but it is sustainable and a great contribution to your empire. Build the defenses, assign scavengers, build farms, and connect them to your trade routes.

13 Finch Farm

Easily Overlooked But Great For Expansion

How To Unlock

Complete Out of the Fire OR kill the Finch family,

The Finch Farm is rather unimpressive when you acquire it. There’s a water pump, a cooking station, a small cottage for a family of four, and a small plot of land with crops already in place. You’d be forgiven for slapping a few farmers and defenses in place and moving on, but there’s untapped potential here.

The building height extends up to the overpass above, meaning with a set of staircases you can extend your settlement up to this vantage point for additional housing, granting access to the streets above, and incredible defenses.

12 Starlight Drive-In

Great Large-Scale Housing Settlement

How To Unlock

Kill the mole rats

This former drive-in movie theater is now an empty parking lot with several rusting cars and barrels of radioactive waste. Those cars and the radioactive barrels can be scrapped for valuable resources to give you a large flat surface upon which you can build the base of your dreams.

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It’s perfect for large-scale housing to stack survivors on top of each other. It also makes a great location for your power armor collection to be displayed proudly in a personal gallery.

11 Egret Tours Marina

High Risk With High Reward

How To Unlock

Kill Phyllis Daily OR Confront her about Samuel and pass a persuasion check/

Egret Tours Marina may seem like a terrible place for a base given the run-down buildings and random encounter spawn point (the latter meaning this place will be under attack often). But it’s valuable for both you and your empire with the right setup.

This base is flowing with water to be produced and shipped to other settlements and its proximity to the edge of the Glowing Sea makes it a great staging point for adventures into this dangerous territory.

Focus on defenses, pumping clean water, setting up some workshops and a trading post or two for supplies, and you have a strong outpost.

10 Covenant

Small But Comes Ready To Go

How To Unlock

Side with Covenant during the Human Error quest + speak to Jacob Orden OR kill the settlers

This tiny town is a great settlement for you almost as soon as it’s obtained. There are walls surrounding the entire settlement, lots of inhabitants, and a robot named Deezer who, daily, provides a can of Deezer’s Lemonade that heals 50 hit points.

Unfortunately, though, the settlement is one of the smallest in the game and there are already houses in place, which means it’s not very customizable.

Plus, the nifty gun turrets on the walls are a one-time thing, as they can’t be replaced once destroyed.

9 The Mechanist’s Lair

Unique Aesthetics But Can't Stand On Its Own

How To Unlock

Complete the Restoring Order quest

Part of the Automatron add-on, The Mechanist’s Lair is one of Fallout 4's best settlements in terms of usability and unique visuals. It's the home of the infamous Mechanist, who sought to pacify the Commonwealth with her robots.

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This lair of hers acts as theperfect camp for those with a little role-playing flair.

This underground base has a secret entrance that can house those playing as a mad genius or villainous type. Admittedly, it will have to be supported by another settlement as it cannot grow food, but the robotic factory has a great atmosphere for darker characters.

8 Sanctuary Hills

Plenty Of Space But Hard To Defend

How To Unlock

Unlocked by default

The former home of the Sole Survivor prior to the nuclear holocaust can once again be their home as they embark on a quest to find their kidnapped son. Logistically, it has lots of space for the population and decent farmland.

But defending it might be a problem with so many access points. Not to mention it’s a little depressing to live there considering the death of your spouse and neighbors.