meh, i dont rely on their income, i rely on their ability to buy crap i bring in..
lots of stores = lots of caps to gain when selling off a truckload of gear...
imo thats the real reason to have lots of stores.
How many settlers do you have in the settlement with the stores? I read that the income is dependent on the settlers that don't have a job in your settlement. The more un-assigned people you have, the more money you will make.
I wish that would work in real life... you don't have a job, but you got caps to spend. hahaha
Hmm, do you have 18 settlers total? How many have a job? I think the caps are depending on the settlers that just wander around and not on the total population. Your farmers are too busy farming to buy stuff, I guess! Maybe there's a cap limit? So, no matter how many stores or settlers you have, you will always get 50 caps * x-settlers?
According to the game their productivity is related to happiness. There are also perks - look L01 number 4