All Project Zomboid starting locations and maps, ranked

While choosing the right hideout is no mean feat in Project Zomboid, simply because there are too many exciting options on the map, the same cannot be said about starting locations. With four starter regions, there is an obviously good and bad choice you could be making here.

Some pros and cons are present and accounted for on each and every one of them, to be sure, but if you’re still unfamiliar with the game and want to get an easy (easier, rather) start, there is a clear winner here. On the other hand, choosing to kick things off in a more… dynamic region means getting into the nitty-gritty of Project Zomboid sooner, and that’s got value as well.

Project Zomboid starting locations ranked

For the purposes of this article, I am listing Project Zomboid‘s starting locations by how easy it is to come to terms with them early on. An experienced player will be able to survive virtually anywhere, including super-dense modded Louisville starting spots, it should go without saying.

Yet, there are unique challenges to each of these four starting locations. And, naturally, if you stock up on enough fuel with a good enough vehicle, you will be able to travel between, say, West Point and Riverside however you see fit. So, a starter location doesn’t play a huge role in your survivalist gameplay later on, a few weeks down the line.

#4: West Point

West Point is usually the single most challenging starting location you could go with. It’s not a big town, not by a stretch, but it has a substantial population of zombies that will make your early survival experience a royal pain.

The curious bit is that even though West Point doesn’t technically have more zombies than the more highly-rated Rosewood, Rosewood’s hordes are actually more spread apart. To say nothing of the state penitentiary facility, which houses almost 1,000 zombies in total all on its own.

In practice, you’ll have a hard time getting anything done in West Point without engaging the undead. This makes this starting location an excellent choice for Resident Evil-style high-intensity survival. Since there’s a police station, a gun store, a factory, and a hardware store located in West Point, though, guns and ammo come aplenty.

Remember, though: the more you shoot, the more zombies you draw to your location. West Point thus ends up being the trickiest of all spawn spots you could choose early on, and I don’t recommend going for it until you’ve already got plenty of playtime under your belt.

#3: Muldraugh

Muldraugh is, in most ways, the poorest actual town found on Project Zomboid‘s map. This might not mean much at a glance, but in practical terms, it means you’re not going to be finding many high-end resources and/or weapons here. Muldraugh plays host to plenty of zombies, as it was still a town, but its poor populace lived in downtrodden houses and trailers for the most part.

Further, the poverty of the former populace also means that a huge number of stores in Muldraugh closed down ahead of the Knox Event. This means you’ll be hard-pressed to find much of anything in these buildings, short of being able to leverage them as escape routes and, if you are so inclined, questionably safe forward operating bases.

The thing that makes Muldraugh worth raiding, however, is the excellent availability of canned foods for long-term storage and solid tool choices. Whether that’s worth risking your neck over is a choice everyone needs to make in their own survival playthrough, but books, guns, and water don’t come by often in this town.

#2: Rosewood

Rosewood is a fairly small town with a fairly abundant population of zombies roaming about. The thing about it, as I mentioned before, is that a huge chunk of the horde is effectively trapped in the penitentiary, so they’re not worth worrying about unless you aim to raid the place as soon as possible.

Instead, Rosewood has heaps of tools thanks to its selection of stores and more than enough books, fresh food, and weaponry to keep you going for a good long while. Loot isn’t why you’d want to kick things off in Rosewood, however. Instead, you’re going to want to check out its many manor-like houses to establish a long-term base!

Rosewood truly is excellent as far as a more casual take on survival gameplay goes. Setting up headquarters is relatively easy and straightforward, as the manors are usually on the outskirts of the town and fairly defensible. Further, easy access to all the basic amenities means you never need to venture far to improve your character and base.

And, since this is one of the richer areas of Knox Country, you’re poised to score solid vehicles, weapons, and clothes every so often. It’s a good pick overall, as long as you play your cards right.

#1: Riverside

Riverside, however, is the best starting location if you’re looking for a balanced and highly scalable playthrough. Sure, it’s got enough zombies around to be a pain navigating some of its streets, but the prizes are well worth the trouble.

Not only is Riverside sitting right next to the Ohio River, granting you ready access to both fish and freshwater whenever you need it, but it’s also got plenty of books and food, a decent selection of tools and melee weapons, and even an odd firearm here and there. Zombie density is relatively low, making it more or less easy to secure your chosen base of operations early on.

While the lack of guns might seem like an issue, it’s actually a big boon for early-game characters. If you don’t have a gun, you won’t be keen to use it, which keeps you safe from large hordes of zombies! Riverside’s excellent stock of books and VHS tapes also makes it a great spot to hunker down and learn, which will make your character far more capable in the long run.

Overall, then, Riverside is going to be the best starting location choice for most players, whether newcomers or veterans alike.

Understanding starting locations in Project Zomboid – Additional Context

While choosing between the four starting locations in Project Zomboid might seem like the only important thing you’re deciding on as you create your character, that’s not quite the case. Instead, your Occupation plays a big role as well, and the game doesn’t actually suggest this is the case.

Here are the Project Zomboid Occupations that have specific, explicitly defined spawn locations:

• Police Officer
• Fire Officer
• Park Ranger
• Security Guard
• Chef
• Doctor
• Construction Worker

All the other Occupations have randomized spawn locations across all four possible starter regions, much as the “Unemployed” Occupation behaves.

Now, it would take way too long for me to figure out and list all the possible spawn permutations for each of the Occupations featured above. The important bit to keep in mind is that each Occupation has about half a dozen different regional spawn points, making it entirely possible to keep re-rolling your spawn until you get the exact location you wish to kick things off in.

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