Chennai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$159	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	78	7
😀 Quality of life	65	66
🏙️ Population	6.6M	133K

The cost of living in Chennai is 67% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 8898th and 4439th ($437 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 2nd in India and Maldives, respectively. Check India vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.7 months in Male. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 5272nd and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Male infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/chennai/male.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Chennai vs Male infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/chennai/male" target="_blank">Chennai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Chennai vs Male

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

	Chennai	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.25	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$3575

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 Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327