1 Illinois City Ranked Among Best (And Worst) To Live On Minimum Wage

People working minimum-wage jobs have a better shot of making ends meet in some cities than in others.

As it turns out, one of the best places is in Illinois.

That’s according to move.org, a site that aims to ease the stress of relocating.

The information hub notes that the federal minimum wage rings in at $7.25, and that “isn’t a living wage for the majority of people in the U.S.” Anywhere that offers the federal rate and has high rent costs is “likely unaffordable” without having roommates or multiple jobs, move.org noted.

So, researchers got to work to find the best cities for minimum-wage workers to afford a comfortable life. They ranked the 75 biggest cities in the country, determining the number of hours it would take a minimum-wage employee to afford a one-bedroom apartment, excluding other cost of living expenses.

The move.org report says:

“The average minimum wage in these 75 cities is $10.40 per hour, but the average one-bedroom apartment rent is $1,040 per month—that means rent in most big cities requires over 60% of monthly gross minimum wage income, which doesn’t include taxes.”

So, which Illinois city made the list?

Chicago.

The Windy City ranked No. 13 overall, with a median monthly gross rent of $1,061 and an hourly minimum wage of $14.

“Out of all the cities with over a million people, Chicago is one of the best for livable wage earners,” move.org says. “Phoenix, Arizona came in close at 14th best for minimum wage earners.”

These are the Top 10 best cities:

1. Bakersfield, CA
2. Tucson, AZ
3. Fresno, CA
4. Detroit, MI
5. Cleveland, OH
6. Stockton, CA
7. Albuquerque, NM
8. St. Louis, MO
9. St. Paul, MN
10. Newark, NJ

See the full dataset here.