is a 100k salary enough to survive you in the chicago market? enough to live comfortably?
after taxes
cost of living
midsized firm - 50attys
no billable requirement
100k in the Chicago Market Forum
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RedPurpleBlue
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 9:41 pm
Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
100k salary is easily enough to live comfortably in Chicago. Money goes farther in Chicago than pretty much every major city in the northeast and California. The only place you could get a better bang for your buck is in one of Texas' big cities.
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HillandHollow
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
Sort of depends what "living comfortably" means to you, but the short answer is yes.
Friend of mine was making about $55k (not a lawyer), worked in the loop, lived on the north side. Had a nice but older 1 bed, walk up (3rd floor) apartment in a cute but not super trendy neighborhood. She would take the Brown or Red line straight to work, about a 30 minute door to door commute. Still able to have a zipcar subscription (for big groceries), a very nice gym (one of the "[Neighborhood Name] Athletic Centers"), and 1-2x/month massages/spa trips. She had paid her small school debt, and was able to put a little away each month for savings.
I consider that living comfortably. I expect with $100k that you should be able to do about the above, but also have some upgrades to location or apartment amenities, or maybe be able to eat out more often than she did, for instance.
You won't be ballin out of control, but $100k is enough to live nicely in Chicago.
Friend of mine was making about $55k (not a lawyer), worked in the loop, lived on the north side. Had a nice but older 1 bed, walk up (3rd floor) apartment in a cute but not super trendy neighborhood. She would take the Brown or Red line straight to work, about a 30 minute door to door commute. Still able to have a zipcar subscription (for big groceries), a very nice gym (one of the "[Neighborhood Name] Athletic Centers"), and 1-2x/month massages/spa trips. She had paid her small school debt, and was able to put a little away each month for savings.
I consider that living comfortably. I expect with $100k that you should be able to do about the above, but also have some upgrades to location or apartment amenities, or maybe be able to eat out more often than she did, for instance.
You won't be ballin out of control, but $100k is enough to live nicely in Chicago.
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Anonymous User
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
Short answer is that it depends on your debt obligations. Your take home after health insurance will likely be about 6k a month assuming no 401k contributions.If you're paying 2-3k a month in student loans, then you won't be too comfortable. If no loans, then yeah, you'll be in a good spot. An extra 1-2k of disposable income a month makes a HUGE difference.
Edit: grammar
Edit: grammar
Last edited by Anonymous User on Wed May 22, 2019 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mullens
- Posts: 1138
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
I’m from Chicago and the vast majority of my friends (who aren’t lawyers) make well under 100k. You can absolutely live comfortably on half of that.
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BasilHallward
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
Anonymous User wrote:Short answer is that it depends on your debt obligations. Your take home after health insurance will likely be about 6k a month assuming max out 401k contributions.If you're paying 2-3k a month in student loans, then you won't be too comfortable. If no loans, then yeah, you'll be in a good spot. An extra 1-2k of disposable income a month makes a HUGE difference.
Edit: grammar and noticed that 100k was after tax
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Anonymous User
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
My expenses come out to about $3,500 a month (no student loan debt) and I live comfortably in a trendy/fun neighborhood, albeit without a spouse/kids. I don't ball out every weekend, but I do go out to eat and grab drinks with friends most weekends.
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Anonymous User
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Re: 100k in the Chicago Market
biglaw attorney in chicago now. before law school, worked here and made about 60k a year for 1 year. Sure, i was fresh out of college with no real responsibilities, but i lived comfortably (travelled some, went out to dinner and drinks most weeks) and still saved like >20k in that year. Young biglaw attorney now and I've seen some lifestyle creep, but my yearly expenses are <60k. I'm not clubbing on weekends, but I go out most weekends and go on a couple good vacations.
