Abu Dhabi vs Chennai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Chennai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1942	$437
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4262	$1065
🏠 One person rent	$1271	$159
🏘️ Family rent	$2152	$272
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$164
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.2	$64.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3050	$321
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	53	78
😀 Quality of life	85	65
🏙️ Population	1.57M	6.6M

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 344% more expensive than in Chennai. Cities ranked 2187th and 8898th ($1942 vs $437) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 17th in the United Arab Emirates and India, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs India comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.7 months in Chennai. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Chennai ranked 5th in India, while ranked 443rd and 5272nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Chennai infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Chennai

Prices for goods and services in Abu Dhabi and Chennai are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abu Dhabi	Chennai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$2.25
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.6	$11.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.53	$3.91
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$11.7	$1.97
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.34	$0.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1358	$173
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$108
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2476	$313
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1762	$194
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.6	$29.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$44.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$8.96
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.01%	9.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5485	$1914
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12028	$746
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.9	$11.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.63	$3.73
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$0.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.59	$0.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$0.73
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.63	$0.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$6.55
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.07	$3.48
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$6.62
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$0.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.42
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$0.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$0.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.22
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$9.05
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.54	$1.94
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.29	$3.82
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.83	$0.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$3.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.73	$1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.92	$0.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.4	$15.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$2.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.5	$31.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$2.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.4	$25.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$50.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$598	$70.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12663	$1729

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2514
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1419
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1449
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2521
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1228
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1849
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1770
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$792
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$1078
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1201
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1237
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1230
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1081
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$530
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$908
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1008
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$529
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$873
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$930
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$568
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$553
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$453
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$477
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$530
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$503
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$573
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$557
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$761
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$624
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$463
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1627
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1283
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Chennai

Distance	City	Cost of living
111 km or 69 mi	Tirupati	$327
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$235
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$291
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$327
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$535
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$300
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$327
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$368
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$367
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$334
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$295
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$275
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$524
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$304
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$341
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$347
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$345
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$286
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$355
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$290
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$307
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$277
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$347
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$339
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$345
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$310
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$346
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$298
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$347
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$326
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$383
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$266
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$301
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$265
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$353
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$291
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$266
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$295
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$286