Canberra vs Chennai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Canberra	Chennai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2019	$437
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4571	$1065
🏠 One person rent	$1242	$159
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$272
🍽️ Food expenses	$519	$164
🚐 Transport expenses	$129	$64.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3565	$321
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	30	78
😀 Quality of life	86	65
🏙️ Population	381K	6.6M

The cost of living in Canberra is 362% more expensive than in Chennai. Cities ranked 1949th and 8898th ($2019 vs $437) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 14th and 17th 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 10th best city to live in Australia vs Chennai ranked 5th in India, while ranked 413th and 5272nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Canberra vs Chennai infographic

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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	$14.3	$2.25
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.8	$11.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.5	$3.91
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.6	$1.97
☕ Cappuccino	$3.3	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.6	$0.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1348	$173
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1007	$108
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2461	$313
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1543	$194
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$121	$29.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$185	$44.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.7	$8.96
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.01%	9.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7420	$1914
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4762	$746
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.28	$0.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$105	$11.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.7	$3.73
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.34	$0.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.41	$0.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$0.73
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.51	$0.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$6.55
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.15	$3.48
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$6.62
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.27	$2.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$0.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.15	$1.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.88	$0.42
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$0.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$0.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$0.22
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.11	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.3	$9.05
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.74	$1.94
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.8	$3.82
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.62	$0.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.44	$3.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.37	$1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$0.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.5	$15.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$2.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.7	$31.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.6	$2.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.9	$25.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.5	$50.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1751	$70.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13305	$1729

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	$1678
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1580
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1568
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1364
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1599
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2292
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$1888
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2640
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2181
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1667
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1747
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1662
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1839
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1813
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1725
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1706
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1736
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1681
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1362
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2308
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1768
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1728
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1738
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1673
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2058
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1464
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1184
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1771
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1718
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1786
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1660
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1753
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2127
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1639

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