Most of Melrose Park is in Cook County, where a full-time job needs to pay at least $55.93 an hour before taxes to take home four times the typical studio rent.
Across the 3 ZIP codes in Melrose Park with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,310 to $1,650 a month. At the middle rent, $1,370, a full-time job would need to pay $45.22 an hour before taxes.
What the standard would be at each ZIP code's own studio rent. The calculator and the official standard use the county figure.
| ZIP | County | Studio rent | Pay needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60160 | Cook County | $1,370/mo | $45.22/hr |
| 60161 | Cook County | $1,650/mo | $55.93/hr |
| 60164 | Cook County | $1,310/mo | $42.93/hr |
Under the Four Times Rent standard, a full-time job in Melrose Park needs to pay at least $55.93 an hour before taxes, about $116,326 a year. That is the figure for Cook County, where the typical studio rent is $1,650 a month.
Yes. Across the 3 ZIP codes in Melrose Park with HUD rent figures, studio rents run from $1,310 to $1,650 a month. At the middle rent of $1,370, the pay needed would be $45.22 an hour.
The minimum wage in Cook County is $15.00 an hour. The Four Times Rent standard there is 3.7 times that.
The Four Times Rent standard: a month of full-time work (160 hours) should take home at least four times the typical rent on a studio apartment in the county where the work is done. Rents: HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents. Taxes: 2026 federal and state income taxes plus Social Security and Medicare, for a single filer. Why four times rent? · Method and data downloads