How to Quickly Raise Your Island Star Rating to 3 Stars & 5 Stars
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Raise your island's Star Rating by increasing the amount of your villagers, improving the scenery, and by talking to Isabelle in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH). Learn how you can quickly and easily get 3-Star and 5-Star ratings for your island with our guide!
How to Raise Your Island's Star Rating
| Method | ★3 | ★5 | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place Furniture Outdoors | 40 | 250 | ★★★★★ |
| Upgrade the Facilities | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | ★★★★★ |
| Add Bridges and Slopes | 2 | 4 | ★★★★☆ |
| Add More Villagers | 8 | 10 | ★★★★☆ |
| Plant More Trees | 100 | 110 | ★★★★☆ |
| Plant More Flowers | 200 | 300 | ★★★★☆ |
| Add Fencing | 50 | 100 | ★★★☆☆ |
| Pluck Weeds and Pick Up Garbage | 0 | 0 | ★☆☆☆☆ |
Our team found that 3-Star and 5-Star Rankings could be achieved with each of the given numbers of improvements listed in the table above.
Let us know how you managed to raise your Island to a 3-Star or 5-Star Ranking in the comments below!
Recommended Island Stats for 3-Star Rating
| Clutters and Weeds | None |
|---|---|
| Furniture Decorations | Approximately 40 pieces |
| Resident Services | First Upgrade |
| Villagers | 8 Residents |
| Bridges and Slopes | Two |
| Fences | 50 pieces |
| Flowers | Approximately 100 |
| Trees | Approximately 100 |
As per our testing, you can follow the stats above to ensure a 3-star island rating. You can go over in some areas, such as the villager count and fences, as having more of these won't negatively affect your island rating.
Place Furniture Outdoors
The best way to increase your island star rating is to decorate your island with various furniture. This can include store-bought items from Nook's Cranny or furniture built from DIY recipes.
List of All Items and Furniture
Gather Furniture Gradually Every Day
Collect Furniture over time to reach the coveted 5-Star Rating. Use the Nook Stop in Resident Services to purchase Furniture with Bells and Miles to achieve the required numbers faster.
DIY Furniture has High Value
Crafted Furniture made in a DIY Workbench will get a higher ranking for both your scenery and natural beauty scores.
Since the 3.0 update, you can also craft multiple furniture items in bulk, up to a maximum of 10 at a time, making DIY building faster and more efficient. Make sure to keep crafting and using them as decorations to boost your island rating!
Recommended DIY Furniture to Craft
| DIY Item | Required Materials |
|---|---|
 Wooden-Block Toy
|
・
 Softwood (×3) |
 Stone Stool
|
・
 Stone (×3) |
 Hay Bed
|
・
 Clump of Weeds (×20) |
 Wooden Mini Table
|
・
 Wood (×6) |
 Log Bench
|
・
 Hardwood (×5) |
 Iron Garden Table
|
・
 Iron Nugget (×5) |
Here are some recommended DIY furniture items you can craft to boost your island star rating. These are easy to build and are aesthetically versatile wherever you place them.
Upgrade the Facilities
In order to raise the ranking of the island, it's absolutely necessary to have all of the Facilities built. Resident Services and Nook's Cranny must be fully upgraded for the island to reach the maximum 5-Star Rating.
All Facilities to Build or Upgrade
 Resident Services |
 Nook's Cranny |
 Museum |
 Able Sisters |
 Campsite |
- |
These are the facilities you need to build or upgrade to reach at least a 3-star island rating. The campsite and upgraded Resident Services are key facilities, since they are tied to story progression and are required to unlock island evaluations.
All Island Shops and Facilities Upgrades
Add Bridges and Slopes
Further develop your island with bridges or slopes and stairs. The more of these you have on your island, the higher your island rating will be.
You can only have a maximum of 8 bridges and slopes on your island. If you want to add more, you can purchase the Pro Construction License to increase the limit to 10.
Add More Villagers
To reach at least a 3-star island rating, you'll also need to have the maximum number of villagers on your island. You can do this by purchasing housing plots from Tom Nook for 10,000 Bells, in exchange for 1,000 Nook Miles.
You can have up to 10 villagers on your island. You can proactively invite potential residents through Mystery Tours, from friends' islands if someone is moving out, or by using amiibo, though amiibo invitations take three days to complete. Note that plots will auto-fill if they are left open for a couple of days.
Max Villagers and How to Get New Villagers to Move In
Plant More Trees
Growing trees and having enough of them can also increase your island rating, though keep in mind that having too many can decrease it.
The best way to grow trees is to plant fruit. You can also visit Mystery Islands to gather fully grown trees, though this requires you to eat something first, since you'll need stamina to uproot trees with your shovel.
Chop Down Trees or Uproot If You Have an Overabundance
If Isabelle says that you have an overabundance of trees that villagers tend to get lost in, that means you need to take a couple of your trees down. You can do this by chopping them down, though this leaves a stump. If you want them completely gone, dig up the stump or remove the entire tree with a shovel.
How to Chop Wood and Chop Down Trees
Plant More Flowers
Isabelle will also recommend that you plant flowers, especially if you're still below a 3-star island rating. Luckily, growing and tending flowers is easy. You can purchase them in bulk, wait three days until they reach maturity, and water them to reproduce. There's even a chance you'll get hybrids the more you tend to them!
Flower seeds can be bought from Nook's Cranny or Leif's shop on the days he visits, or if he's already unlocked on Harv's Island. You can also pick them up from Kapp'n's Boat Tours or Mystery Islands.
List of Flowers, Shrubs, and Bushes
Place Fencing
Fences can also increase your island star rating. Unlike trees, there's no penalty for having too many fences. You can place as many as you want to boost your rating!
As a good start to reach a 3-star island rating, place the 50 pieces of Simple Wooden Fence you get for free from Tom Nook around your island. These 50 pieces are enough to reach the 3-star rating needed to unlock Island Designer.
Island Designer and Terraforming Unlock Walkthrough
Build Corral Fence
Corral Fence is the easiest fence to build, as it only requires 6 wood to craft. Other fences need more materials, so if you want an easy option, go with the Corral Fence!
Pluck Weeds and Pick Up Garbage
Remember to clean up Weeds in your island whenever you spot them! Although these points are less significant than the others, you'll want to give your Island a thorough cleaning after you've finished all the other requirements to increase your rating.
Declutter Areas with Random Objects
Dropping items outside, instead of choosing to place items, will be considered as clutter. When this happens, Isabelle will tell you that there are "too many items lying around."
Make sure to pick these up to increase your island rating. If possible, avoid any clutter to help ensure at least a 3-star rating.
What Can You Do With Trash? | Trash (Garbage) DIY Recipes
How to Check Island Star Rating
Ask Isabelle
Isabelle is the only character who can tell you your island star rating. Simply talk to her and select Island Evaluations to find out your current rating.
She only appears after upgrading your Resident Services. This happens once you have increased your population to all 5 villagers, not including NPCs.
Rewards for Increasing your Island Rating
| 3-Star Rating | ・ Island Designer ・ K.K Slider Concert ・ Ordinances ・ Kapp'n Boat Tours ・ The Roost ・ Hotel |
|---|---|
| 5-Star Rating | ・Golden Watering Can ・ Lily-of-the-Valley |
3-Star Rating: Island Designer
A 3-Star Rating for your Island will unlock the Island Designer app. Permits for this app can be purchased at the Nook Stop with Nook Miles. Make sure to have enough Nook Miles, as Terraforming and Waterscaping can be expensive, each costing 6,000. Paths, however, are cheaper at only 2,000 Nook Miles.
How to Use the Island Designer App
3-Star Rating: K.K Slider Concert
Once you've raised the Island Star Rating to 3 Stars, the K.K. Slider event will occur as the game's end credits. After this, K.K. Slider will perform every Saturday in the Plaza. You can get free music by watching his performance!
3-Star Rating: Ordinances
As part of the 2.0 update, Ordinances are also implemented after reaching a 3-star island rating. You can set any of them for 20,000 Bells, or choose to have none if you don't want additional rules on your island.
Island Ordinances Guide: Effects, What to Get, and How to Change
3-Star Rating: Kapp'n Boat Tours
Kapp'n's Boat Tours will also become available after reaching a 3-star island rating. These boat tours cost 1,000 Nook Miles per trip and are only available once a day. Unlike Mystery Tours, these islands have at least one guaranteed gyroid or gyroid fragment and feature bushes and sometimes crops that you can pick up.
3-Star Rating: The Roost
You'll also unlock The Roost after meeting Brewster on the boat tours. Make sure to talk to Blathers first before taking the tour to ensure Brewster appears.
After meeting Brewster, the cafe opens two days after its construction, and you can hold another ceremony then. This is the last museum ceremony you can hold!
How to Unlock Brewster's Roost Cafe | Rewards and Things to Do
3-Star Rating: Hotel
As part of the 3.0 update, reaching a 3-star island rating also unlocks the hotel. This allows your island to host tourists, and you can attract more by decorating the hotel rooms.
It also has a shop where you can use tickets to purchase items. Simply head to the displays or talk to Grams to access her catalogue.
Hotel Guide: Everything You Can Do in the Hotel
5-Star Rating: Golden Watering Can
Once you've reached a 5-Star Rating for your Island, Isabelle will give you the DIY Recipe for the Golden Watering Can as a reward.
The Golden Watering Can has improvements over the original, like the ability to water 9 flowers at once, and to grow Golden Roses, so it's definitely worth aiming for a 5-Star Rating.
How to Get the Golden Watering Can
5-Star Rating: Lily-of-the-Valley
A 5-star island rating also allows the growth of Lily-of-the-Valley. This rare flower only grows once you reach this rating, and they often appear on cliffs. Make sure your cliffs are open to allow these flowers to grow!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) Related Guides
All Tips and Tricks Guides
What to Do Before the 3.0 Update
How to Get Zelda Items
How to Jump, Skip, and Sidestep
How to Invite Guests Using amiibo
How to Farm Hotel Tickets
Bulk Crafting Guide
Hotel Guide
Slumber Island Guide
How to Get and Use the Megaphone on Switch 2
How to Decorate Hotel Rooms
DIY Item Requests Guide
Resetti's Reset Service Guide
How to Get Splatoon Items
All Grams Souvenir Shop Items
ACNH 100% Checklist
Daily & Weekly To-Do List
How to Increase Inventory Space
How to Get Presents from Balloons
Island Designer Unlock Walkthrough
How to Raise Your Island's Star Rating
How to Kick Out Villagers
How to Get New Villagers
How to Get Specific Villagers You Want
How to Get Villager Photos and Posters
Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler
List of Haunted Art
How to Get Infinite Tarantula Island
How to Get Infinite Scorpion Island
Time Traveling Guide
Secrets and Hidden Content
What is Luck?
How to Use the Warp Pipe
Message in a Bottle Spawn TimeComment
Anonymous 7 monthsI understand allot of you guys are saying that Isabel tells you something and you do it but she won't raise your stars? Well here is what I say (3 star island rating btw) DON'T! Isabel won't give good advice to you I had a hard time with her what got me to three stars was my natural and economic tidbit builds like a stuffed animal park with cotton candy or my displays and yards outside buildings and most importantly my theme park! I recommend tidbit builds to you guys tell me if you got 3 stars!
Author
How to Quickly Raise Your Island Star Rating to 3 Stars & 5 Stars
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Another quick mention to you guys who want certain things I recommend listening to tom nook until he recommends stars then try my tidbit builds and also try to make a little living space on beaches and forests! A cool idea is using miles to redeem items for your usage like the Plaza set in case your making a theme park. Today my villager Bianca mentioned playing beach volleyball with me and I got the idea to make a volleyball net on the beach so try to listen to them for build ideas!