Chennai vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Chennai	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$409	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1006	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$142	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$243	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$156	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$67	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$254	$420
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	79	73
😀 Quality of life	65	60
🏙️ Population	6.6M	4.8M

The cost of living in Chennai is 66% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 8947th and 4745th ($409 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 15th and 4th in India and South Africa, respectively. Check India vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Chennai compared to 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 5131st and 5850th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Chennai vs Johannesburg

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

	Chennai	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.12	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.9	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.18	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.57	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$1.59	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.41	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$160	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$97.5	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$282	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$178	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$36.6	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.79	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.78%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1739	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$712	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.75	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.5	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.85	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.29	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.85	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.01	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.82	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.37	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.75	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.25	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.94	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.73	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.6	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.6	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.9	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.53	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$37.6	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$71.7	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1792	$5103

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	$306
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$232
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$302
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$322
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$508
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$294
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$320
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$348
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$339
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$317
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$283
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$275
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$507
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$290
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$297
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$339
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$325
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$331
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$274
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$303
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$273
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$292
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$265
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$330
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$328
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$317
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$290
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$332
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$280
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$342
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$313
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$359
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$255
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$281
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$247
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$327
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$271
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$250
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$264
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$259

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965