Chennai vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Chennai	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$433	$582
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1143	$1336
🏠 One person rent	$159	$260
🏘️ Family rent	$379	$352
🍽️ Food expenses	$167	$216
🚐 Transport expenses	$66	$57.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$868	$278
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	78	13
😀 Quality of life	66	20
🏙️ Population	6.6M	989K

The cost of living in Chennai is 26% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8907th and 7990th ($433 vs $582) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 20th and 2nd in India and Malawi, respectively. Check India vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 4094th and 8861st 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	$1.8	$3.23
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.8	$25.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.79	$3.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.1	$0.93
☕ Cappuccino	$1.82	$2.43
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$187	$375
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$113
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$526	$363
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$282	$202
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24.9	$44.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$68.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.96	$49.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.43%	12.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1926	$10490
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$804	$589
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$12	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.59	$6.99
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.66	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.56	$1.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.76	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.92	$2.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.7	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$3.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.59	$5.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$2.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.9	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.5	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.23	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.05	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.38	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.84	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.33	$1.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.85	$2.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.07	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.6	$0.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.4	$33.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.01	$4.11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12	$17.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.49	$3.63
👖 Brand Jeans	$26	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$47.2	$49.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$82.6	$350
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1425	$2358

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 Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$515
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$516
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$498
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$574
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$591
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$834
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$534
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$500
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1079
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1012
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$810
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$890
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$830
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$670
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$894
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$433
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$662
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$1139
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$1190
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$685
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1017
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1116
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1090
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$729
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1028
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$731
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1007
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1500
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$761
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1394
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$871
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$725
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$939
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$756
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$564
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$639
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$670