How Does a Miner Decide Which Transactions to Include in a Block?

A miner's primary goal is to maximize profit, so they generally prioritize transactions that offer the highest transaction fee per unit of block space (often measured in satoshis per byte). Transactions are drawn from the mempool, which is the waiting area for unconfirmed transactions.

The miner will continuously select the most lucrative set of transactions that fit within the block size limit to ensure the highest revenue before solving the block's cryptographic puzzle.