ChicagoJobs #19DollarsAnHour #CostOfLivingChicago
Is $19 an Hour Good in Chicago? 🏙️💰
When I received this job offer email, I had one immediate reaction: 😳 Is $19 an hour even feasible for the cost of living in Chicago?
Here’s the email snippet that made me think:
"I am looking for folks who are ok working in the office 3 days a week downtown in a hybrid model and 2 days from home. Pay is $19/hr. If you are open, I would love to set up a phone call to discuss. Do you have some days/times to chat?"
I almost wanted to respond with this image! Link to image.
Let’s break it down! ⚖️
Understanding Chicago’s Cost of Living 🏠
Chicago is a vibrant city with a lot to offer, but it’s also known for its high living costs. Here’s what you need to consider when evaluating a $19/hour wage:
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Rent:
- Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment downtown: $1,600+/month
- Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment outside downtown: $1,200+/month
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Utilities:
- Basic utilities (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage): $150/month
- Internet: $60/month
-
Transportation:
- Monthly CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) pass: $105/month
- Gasoline prices: High due to city taxes
- Groceries and Dining:
- Monthly grocery bill for one: $350/month
- Dining out occasionally: $15-$30 per meal
Crunching the Numbers: Can You Make It Work? 🧮
Let’s do some quick math to see if $19 an hour is reasonable:
-
Monthly Earnings:
- $19/hour x 40 hours/week x 4 weeks/month = $3,040 (before taxes)
-
Estimated Take-home Pay:
- Considering federal and state taxes, estimate around $2,500/month (varies by individual tax situations)
- Monthly Expenses:
- Rent: $1,200 (outside downtown)
- Utilities: $150
- Internet: $60
- Transportation: $105
- Groceries: $350
- Dining Out: $100
- Total: $1,965
Is It Enough? 💭
- After basic expenses, you’d have around $535 left for savings, entertainment, and emergencies.
- While feasible, it’s tight, especially for unexpected costs or significant savings.
What Are Your Options? 🤔
Considering the high cost of living in Chicago, $19 an hour may seem low. Here are some strategies:
- Negotiate Higher Pay:
- Discuss cost of living adjustments with employers.
- Look for Extra Income:
- Part-time work, freelancing, or side gigs.
- Budget Smartly:
- Track expenses, cut unnecessary costs, and save diligently.
Conclusion: Not Crazy at All! 🧠
Questioning if $19 an hour is sufficient for living in Chicago is perfectly reasonable. The cost of living is high, and ensuring financial stability is crucial. Don’t hesitate to negotiate or explore other job opportunities that better align with your financial needs.
Remember, your quality of life matters, and you deserve to earn a wage that supports it. 🌟💼
If it doesn’t say anything about a bachelors degree then it’s not a bad starting one for someone starting out in the office field. If you need experience and a higher education then yeah that photo would be the proper response.
wendy’s hiring
I feel like $20/hour is the absolute floor to get by in any mid-sized city, and you need more in places like NYC and LA.
There’s a bagel place opening in Evanston, and they have job postings on Instagram. The full-time counter job pays $21, which is 50% more than Evanston’s minimum wage.
Laughable. What is it going to take for these employers to wake the fuck up?
If you commute to work from Gary IN its probably ok
The proper response is “ma’am, is this a wendy’s?”
$19 an hour for accounting is atrocious. Send the picture
Depends. I live in Las Vegas and make 98k base pay+ 50-70k/ year in comissions. Thankfully I purchased a home in June 2020 and have a 3.1% interest rate on my home. My gf helps out to the tune of $900.00 month. I live fairly comfortably for the most part, but if I had a kid I would likely be living paycheck to paycheck. You need to make about 200k/ year in order to have a kid not exposed to a 🗑️ life. I moved here from Chicago in 2014. Las Vegas’ cost of living has skyrocketed and think it’s more expensive here vs Chicago, for what it’s worth.
Absolutely not, I live in Vegas and even when I was making $20 it was still a stretch paying for living expenses while roommating. I know it’s def not stretching in a place like the Chi unless you got multiple roommmates or live in a very bad area.
What wage is good over there?
In New Hampshire you have to make 28 dollars a hour to “afford” an apartment but you will have nothing left over. It’s awful
I make $16.48/hour in Chicago. It’s rough out here.
Bruh…you need like $23/hr+ just to be able to afford living in any city in the US right now. Corporations been price gouging so hard.
So no, you are not crazy. The jobs market thinks it’s somehow feasible to offer such little wage…
Honestly it genuinely baffles me how places expect to retain employees anymore with these garbage wages…also baffles me how corporations think people can just keep affording to spend more and more, or that people will just keep buying more and more…like…
The economy is a finite system….i don’t understand how people don’t understand that when more than like 60% of the country’s wealth is in the hands of like 10 people, the other 40% is spread out amongst over 300 million people….like…
I just don’t get it!
It’s very good if you’re working 60 hour work weeks /s
That’s not good anywhere.
I’m in one of the more affordable metros in the country and I would be really scraping by on that amount.
Yeah. That’s nuts. It would barely keep you sheltered in Columbus (hometown). I used to work in Chicago. Not sure where you’d even find a place. No damn way that’s cutting it there. Unless it’s some kinda internship that paid room for a spot. Otherwise I absolutely don’t know how you’d make that work
Shift leads in fast food restaurants make more than that
$19 is not nearly enough in Chicago
I live in a way lower cost of living area than Chicago and $19 isn’t very good
$19/hour in Chicago is fine if you live at home and if you don’t have any bills to pay. Honestly need about $25/hour to live comfortably
$19 an hour is way too low. I don’t get out of bed for anything under $25.