Chennai vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Chennai	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$434	$908
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1151	$2207
🏠 One person rent	$161	$403
🏘️ Family rent	$376	$738
🍽️ Food expenses	$167	$254
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.9	$173
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$864	$1428
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	78	72
😀 Quality of life	68	61
🏙️ Population	10.3M	4.43M

The cost of living in Chennai is 52% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 8842nd and 5921st ($434 vs $908) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 1st 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 1st in South Africa, while ranked 3676th and 5184th 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	$2.09	$7.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.54	$35.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.21	$4.44
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.14	$2.09
☕ Cappuccino	$1.8	$1.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$183	$350
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$106	$277
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$505	$667
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$564
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.2	$71.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.9	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.3	$39.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.38%	11.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1913	$840
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$882	$689
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.48	$1.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12.6	$66
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.54	$9.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.55	$0.9
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.92	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.88	$7.94
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$4.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.66	$5.88
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.27
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$1.31
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.23	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.36
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.16	$5.33
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.08	$1.16
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.08	$2.88
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.31	$3.76
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.91	$3.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.46	$1.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.72	$1.11
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.8	$31.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.02	$6.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$27.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.58	$6.37
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.5	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$42.5	$83.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$85.5	$232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$4829

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 Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$889
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$776
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$875
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$741
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$631
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$755
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$783
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$637
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$698
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$751
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$845
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$625
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$746
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$866
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$621
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$701
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$682
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$719
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$631
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$656
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$511
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$633
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$558
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$739
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$603
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$511
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$447
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$535
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$605
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$601
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$511
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$511
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$753
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$609
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$978
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$554
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1084
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$780
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$550
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$952