Chennai vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Chennai	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$433	$1079
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1143	$2553
🏠 One person rent	$159	$487
🏘️ Family rent	$379	$837
🍽️ Food expenses	$167	$302
🚐 Transport expenses	$66	$204
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$868	$1695
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	78	72
😀 Quality of life	66	58
🏙️ Population	6.6M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chennai is 60% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 8907th and 5069th ($433 vs $1079) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 20th and 3rd in India and South Africa, respectively. Check India vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 1.6 months in Johannesburg. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 4094th and 5446th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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	$1.8	$9.91
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.8	$40.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.79	$5.08
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.1	$2.31
☕ Cappuccino	$1.82	$2.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$1.01
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$187	$405
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$361
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$526	$781
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$282	$657
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24.9	$72.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$111
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.96	$44.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.43%	11.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1926	$1096
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$804	$753
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$1.89
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12	$81.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.59	$10.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.56	$1
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.76	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.92	$2.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.7	$10.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$5.16
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.59	$6.49
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$1.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.62
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.48
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.4
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.5	$1.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.23	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.05	$1.51
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.38	$6.14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.84	$1.36
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.33	$3.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.85	$6.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.07	$2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.6	$1.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.4	$33.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.01	$7.67
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$29.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.49	$6.42
👖 Brand Jeans	$26	$51.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$47.2	$91.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$82.6	$241
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1425	$5865

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	$329
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$243
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$308
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$352
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$572
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$310
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$337
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$380
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$367
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$351
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$330
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$289
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$578
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$321
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$324
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$331
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$359
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$307
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$338
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$378
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$307
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$324
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$291
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$306
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$353
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$351
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$334
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$325
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$320
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$355
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$340
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$382
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$289
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$321
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$274
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$373
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$312
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$279
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$325
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$287

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$997
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$874
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$971
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$822
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$696
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$838
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$909
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$717
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$768
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$848
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$943
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$717
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$819
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$841
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$689
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$788
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$774
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$809
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$692
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$718
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$559
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$690
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$623
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$791
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$654
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$459
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$627
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$663
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$696
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$581
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$554
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$859
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$674
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$1003
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$600
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1116
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$834
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$585
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1045