Chennai vs Lusaka - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Lusaka
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$655
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$1696
🏠 One person rent	$159	$218
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$350
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$251
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$127
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$98
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	78	36
😀 Quality of life	65	50
🏙️ Population	6.6M	2.47M

The cost of living in Chennai is 33% less expensive than in Lusaka. Cities ranked 8898th and 7398th ($437 vs $655) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 8th in India and Zambia, respectively. Check India vs Zambia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.1 months in Lusaka. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Lusaka ranked 1st in Zambia, while ranked 5272nd and 6625th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$2.25	$7.48
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$25.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$3.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$0.98
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$204
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$112
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$374
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$206
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$42.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$64.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$45.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	25.21%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$2016
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$4812
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$0.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$38.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$11.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.22
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.33
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$1.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$7.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$3.95
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$4.57
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.69
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.68
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.1
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.94
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.49
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$6.82
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$0.97
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$3.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$5.88
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$2.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$1.46
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$50.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$14.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$5.62
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$18.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$73.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$177
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$11593

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 Lusaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
166 km or 103 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
209 km or 130 mi	Choma	$687
275 km or 171 mi	Ndola	$577
289 km or 179 mi	Kitwe	$1062
297 km or 184 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
318 km or 198 mi	Mufulira	$1278
322 km or 200 mi	Chingola	$1069
370 km or 230 mi	Kadoma	$761
373 km or 232 mi	Livingstone	$653
399 km or 248 mi	Harare	$1021
411 km or 255 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
426 km or 265 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
429 km or 267 mi	Kwekwe	$716
464 km or 288 mi	Marondera	$779
475 km or 295 mi	Mansa	$912
478 km or 297 mi	Gweru	$587
521 km or 324 mi	Likasi	$1032
529 km or 329 mi	Bulawayo	$658
574 km or 356 mi	Tete	$820
584 km or 363 mi	Masvingo	$873
605 km or 376 mi	Kolwezi	$1045
611 km or 380 mi	Mutare	$755
613 km or 381 mi	Lilongwe	$592
645 km or 401 mi	Francistown	$587
658 km or 409 mi	Kasama	$888
686 km or 426 mi	Chimoio	$916
688 km or 428 mi	Ntcheu	$493
694 km or 431 mi	Mzimba	$565
721 km or 448 mi	Blantyre	$506
729 km or 453 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
756 km or 470 mi	Zomba	$458
757 km or 471 mi	Mangochi	$496
762 km or 474 mi	Mzuzu	$527
775 km or 482 mi	Mulanje	$461
792 km or 492 mi	Serowe	$536
802 km or 499 mi	Palapye	$514
852 km or 529 mi	Beira	$996
869 km or 540 mi	Mahalapye	$577
917 km or 570 mi	Mbeya	$495
956 km or 594 mi	Quelimane	$692