Illinois raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in January. This increase is the last of six years of legislation, raising the minimum wage one dollar a year, since January 2019. Despite the extra dollar added to their paychecks each hour, this change may not be impacting DePaul University students as much as you may assume. 

While the minimum wage across the state increased from $14 to $15 an hour, “the City of Chicago has its own minimum wage,” Brian Phalen, an economics professor at DePaul, said.

However, the city’s minimum wage did not change in January. It was increased in July 2024. “There is no change in minimum wage for Chicago workers,” Phalen said. For this reason, most DePaul students won’t be affected since their minimum wage is governed by the city.”

“Since the change, there has been a change in my paycheck,” said Camelia Patron, a senior at DePaul University pursuing a double major in theater arts and political science. 

Patron has three jobs her senior year. She is a quarter mentor for DePaul, works a desk job at the university and does an outreach program with elementary students. 

All of these are minimum wage positions, meaning Patron was one of the many Chicagoans who benefited from this increase in pay. Patron said that seeing the City of Chicago adjust its minimum wage in accordance with the ever-growing cost of living makes her want to advocate for herself in future professional settings. 

Along with the increase in pay, Patron said that DePaul has made some other changes that affect her jobs, such as paid leave for hourly students.

Patron said this process was put in place to make sure students were able to take time off for their mental health without having to worry about affording food and housing. 

“Seeing things change at DePaul makes me want to enact change in my own life after college,” she said. “It’s good for the university to be transparent with student employees.” 

It isn’t just upperclassmen that will be affected by this change. Rory Sullivan, a freshman at DePaul studying psychology with a concentration in health care, shared her thoughts on the change. 

“I don’t think that the salary increase will affect DePaul students very much because of inflation and rising prices,” Sullivan said. “In order to afford rent on an average priced apartment in Lincoln Park ($1,000/mo) you would have to work 65 hours a month, and that’s just for rent.” 

Sullivan said that many of her friends have struggled to find jobs as first-year students. 

“There are a lot of resources around us but not enough; most of the jobs are taken up by existing students,” she said. “It is becoming increasingly difficult for freshmen to find jobs because there are not enough jobs for the number of students in the area that need them.”

“A standard full-time job is about 2000 hours per year,” Phelan, the economics professor, said. “At $16.20 an hour, this represents an annual salary of $32,400 or about $2,700 (per month).” 

According to Zillow, average rent for an apartment within walking distance to DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus is around $1000 to $4000 each month depending on size. This means that even if students worked seven hours a day, they would still be spending roughly half of their monthly earnings on rent. 

“While the cost of living is higher in Lincoln Park than in other areas of the city, there are undoubtedly benefits to being in Lincoln Park as well,” Phelan said. “It’s a beautiful neighborhood with great urban amenities.” 

By living in Lincoln Park, students give up the lower cost of living they may find in other cities to be in an area full of opportunities and amenities, Phelan said.

Patron said that while “Lincoln Park can feel financially isolating at times, it is worth it because of the opportunities that the city offers for the future.”

Related Stories:

• Everyone should work within the food service industry at least once
• Stuck in traffic? New tax could help.

Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories, delivered to your inbox every Monday.