Chennai vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$1082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$2560
🏠 One person rent	$159	$485
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$833
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$1614
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	78	74
😀 Quality of life	65	62
🏙️ Population	6.6M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chennai is 60% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 8898th and 5031st ($437 vs $1082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th 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 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 5272nd and 5648th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chennai vs Johannesburg infographic

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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	$2.25	$10.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$38.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$2.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$1.08
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$462
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$824
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$632
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$78.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$122
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$40.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	11.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$1106
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$741
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$77.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$2.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$5.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$7.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$1.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.63
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.53
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$6.13
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$5.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$1.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$1.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$33.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$29.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$6.46
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$52.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$93.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$227
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$5503

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	$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

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$984
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$890
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$984
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$826
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$740
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$892
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$975
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$706
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$875
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$940
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$838
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$830
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$808
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$762
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$833
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$637
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$668
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$599
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$827
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$607
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$469
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$650
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$577
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$598
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$514
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$861
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$705
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$908
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$536
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$915
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$892
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$587
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$915