Chennai vs Columbus - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chennai	Columbus
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$2145
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1140	$5059
🏠 One person rent	$152	$1248
🏘️ Family rent	$346	$2171
🍽️ Food expenses	$163	$632
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.4	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$848	$4018
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	78	73
😀 Quality of life	66	88
🏙️ Population	6.6M	906K

The cost of living in Chennai is 80% less expensive than in Columbus. Cities ranked 8897th and 1476th ($430 vs $2145) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1323rd in India and the United States, respectively. Check India vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 1.9 months in Columbus. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Columbus ranked 59th in the United States, while ranked 4021st and 249th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Columbus infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Columbus

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

	Chennai	Columbus
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.83	$18.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.6	$66.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.01	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$5.69
☕ Cappuccino	$1.98	$4.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.44
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$1314
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$102	$972
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$470	$2378
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$254	$1757
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.5	$149
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$232
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.3	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	6.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1935	$3095
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$767	$2954
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$60.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.84	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$0.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.51	$2.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$3.43
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.91	$3.4
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.5	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$13.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.5	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$5.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$5.69
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$4.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$3.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$1.47
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.67	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$2.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$9.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.82	$9.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$3.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$4.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$2.2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.7	$42.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.86	$11.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$85.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$19.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.2	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$89.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.7	$1236
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1573	$15423

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chennai

Distance	City	Cost of living
111 km or 69 mi	Tirupati	$315
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$258
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$354
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$360
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$514
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$306
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$346
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$367
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$355
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$338
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$304
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$302
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$533
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$311
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$314
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$375
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$359
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$304
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$295
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$351
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$292
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$316
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$280
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$300
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$354
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$349
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$316
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$311
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$304
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$310
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$339
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$366
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$298
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$330
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$272
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$357
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$307
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$272
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$292
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$306

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2084
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2062
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1986
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2085
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1994
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2095
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1798
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1983
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$1851
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1903
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1968
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1881
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1897
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1764
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1871
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1825
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1870
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1798
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1862
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1852
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1832
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1865
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1890
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1897
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1674
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1902
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1783
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1973
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1914
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1870
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1681
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1834
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1427
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$1923
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1481
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1853
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1839
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1428
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1683
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1858