Chennai vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chennai	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$738
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1140	$2249
🏠 One person rent	$152	$312
🏘️ Family rent	$346	$948
🍽️ Food expenses	$163	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.4	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$848	$333
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	78	37
😀 Quality of life	66	49
🏙️ Population	6.6M	2.47M

The cost of living in Chennai is 42% less expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 8897th and 6726th ($430 vs $738) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 6th in India and Zambia, respectively. Check India vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 0.5 months in Lusaka. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 4021st and 6269th 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 Lusaka infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Lusaka

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

	Chennai	Lusaka
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.83	$6.95
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.6	$27
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.01	$3.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$0.91
☕ Cappuccino	$1.98	$2.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$102	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$470	$1082
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$254	$641
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.5	$60.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$94.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.3	$125
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	21.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1935	$2003
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$767	$4875
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$36.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.84	$12
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.51	$0.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.91	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.5	$7.27
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.63
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.5	$4.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$0.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.67	$6.86
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$1.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$2.37
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.82	$4.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$2.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$1.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.7	$44.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.86	$4.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$4.45
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.2	$18.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$89.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.7	$176
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1573	$9642

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	$315
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$258
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$354
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$360
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$514
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$306
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$346
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$367
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$355
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$338
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$304
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$302
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$533
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$311
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$314
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$375
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$359
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$304
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$295
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$351
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$292
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$316
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$280
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$300
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$354
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$349
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$316
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$311
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$304
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$310
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$339
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$366
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$298
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$330
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$272
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$357
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$307
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$272
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$292
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$306

Cities near Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$700
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$541
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$917
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1018
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$875
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$723
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$688
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$992
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$730
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$794
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$776
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$597
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$961
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$766
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$825
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$854
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$975
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$752
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$587
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$624
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$748
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$947
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$492
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$566
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$507
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$457
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$493
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$525
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$583
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$540
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$1003
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$631
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$461
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$675