Chennai vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$159	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	78	12
😀 Quality of life	65	25
🏙️ Population	6.6M	989K

The cost of living in Chennai is 26% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8898th and 7884th ($437 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1st in India and Malawi, respectively. Check India vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 5272nd and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chennai vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Lilongwe

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

	Chennai	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.25	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$2356

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 Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653