Chennai vs Islamabad - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Chennai	Islamabad
🚶 Cost of living one person	$434	$389
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1151	$1027
🏠 One person rent	$161	$169
🏘️ Family rent	$376	$398
🍽️ Food expenses	$167	$140
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.9	$33.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$864	$221
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	26 km
🎓 Higher education	78	67
😀 Quality of life	68	51
🏙️ Population	10.3M	1.01M

The cost of living in Chennai is 12% more expensive than in Islamabad. Cities ranked 8842nd and 8988th ($434 vs $389) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 2nd in India and Pakistan, respectively. Check India vs Pakistan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 0.6 months in Islamabad. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs Islamabad ranked 2nd in Pakistan, while ranked 3676th and 6200th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Islamabad infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Islamabad

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

	Chennai	Islamabad
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.09	$1.35
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.54	$16.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.21	$4.33
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.14	$2.18
☕ Cappuccino	$1.8	$1.67
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.3
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$183	$139
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$106	$85.2
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$505	$397
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.2	$57.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.9	$88
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.3	$15.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.38%	19.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1913	$791
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$882	$489
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.48	$0.18
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12.6	$5.43
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.54	$4.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$0.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.55	$0.71
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.92	$1.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.88	$4.91
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$3.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.66	$4.05
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$0.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$0.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$0.47
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$0.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$0.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.23	$0.25
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$0.81
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.16	$1.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.08	$0.76
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.08	$1.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.31	$0.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.91	$1.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.46	$0.59
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.72	$0.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.8	$19.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.02	$3.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$7.98
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.58	$3.87
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.5	$16.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$42.5	$74.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$85.5	$51.4
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$1443

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chennai

Distance	City	Cost of living
111 km or 69 mi	Tirupati	$337
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$269
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$415
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$339
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$343
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$326
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$367
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$356
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$350
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$326
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$328
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$357
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$585
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$316
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$320
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$359
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$337
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$383
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$319
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$399
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$312
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$317
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$287
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$327
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$345
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$350
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$341
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$321
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$334
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$309
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$358
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$350
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$309
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$384
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$310
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$375
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$353
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$358
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$369
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$325

Cities near Islamabad

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Rawalpindi	$331
33 km or 20 mi	Wah	$238
91 km or 57 mi	Mirpur	$278
108 km or 67 mi	Mardan	$335
131 km or 82 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$287
132 km or 82 mi	Baramulla	$281
135 km or 84 mi	Mingora	$311
146 km or 91 mi	Peshawar	$352
148 km or 92 mi	Kohat	$307
158 km or 98 mi	Gujrat	$277
169 km or 105 mi	Srinagar	$393
183 km or 114 mi	Sargodha	$330
191 km or 119 mi	Hafizabad	$303
193 km or 120 mi	Sialkot	$298
200 km or 124 mi	Jammu	$399
203 km or 126 mi	Gujranwala	$240
220 km or 137 mi	Chiniot	$344
222 km or 138 mi	Kamoke	$268
239 km or 148 mi	Sheikhupura	$337
252 km or 156 mi	Jalalabad	$347
254 km or 158 mi	Faisalabad	$289
268 km or 167 mi	Lahore	$386
279 km or 173 mi	Jhang	$364
285 km or 177 mi	Gojra	$337
287 km or 178 mi	Amritsar	$508
287 km or 179 mi	Sahiwal	$260
291 km or 181 mi	Pathankot	$399
292 km or 182 mi	Khost	$423
324 km or 201 mi	Okara	$290
353 km or 219 mi	Gardez	$449
356 km or 221 mi	Jalandhar	$394
368 km or 229 mi	Kabul	$567
392 km or 244 mi	Khanewal	$328
396 km or 246 mi	Burewala	$338
408 km or 253 mi	Ludhiana	$448
418 km or 260 mi	Multan	$307
427 km or 266 mi	Ghazni	$455
465 km or 289 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$242
468 km or 291 mi	Puli Khumri	$437
483 km or 300 mi	Chandigarh	$401