Canberra vs Chennai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Chennai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$430
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$1055
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$151
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$259
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$165
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$65.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$320
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	30	79
😀 Quality of life	85	66
🏙️ Population	381K	6.6M

The cost of living in Canberra is 417% more expensive than in Chennai. Cities ranked 1443rd and 8922nd ($2223 vs $430) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 16th in Australia and India, respectively. Check Australia vs India comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 0.7 months in Chennai. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs Chennai ranked 4th in India, while ranked 479th and 5162nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Canberra vs Chennai

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

	Canberra	Chennai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$2.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$12.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$4.45
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$1.73
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$1.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$0.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$166
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$105
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$304
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$188
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$26.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$40.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$7.84
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	9.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$1789
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$726
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$0.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$11.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$4.16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$0.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$0.5
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$0.71
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$0.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$6.24
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$3.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$6.39
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$2.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$0.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$1.44
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$0.49
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$0.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$0.22
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$7.74
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$3.77
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$0.79
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$3.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$0.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$0.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$15.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$2.78
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$30.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$2.65
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$26.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$44.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$75
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$1717

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1821
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1699
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1477
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1710
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2482
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2050
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2379
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1824
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1867
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1815
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1997
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1979
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1896
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1860
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1894
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1829
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1487
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2496
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1928
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1906
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1822
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2217
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1604
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1288
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1904
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1898
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1753
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2308
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1766

Cities near Chennai

Distance	City	Cost of living
111 km or 69 mi	Tirupati	$322
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$236
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$300
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$327
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$533
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$306
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$334
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$367
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$359
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$334
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$297
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$285
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$523
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$306
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$347
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$341
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$346
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$285
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$332
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$287
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$315
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$276
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$344
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$346
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$338
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$299
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$349
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$292
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$348
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$331
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$376
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$266
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$295
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$264
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$343
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$291
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$262
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$282
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$271