Chennai vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chennai	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$481
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1140	$1335
🏠 One person rent	$152	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$346	$394
🍽️ Food expenses	$163	$189
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.4	$35.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$848	$262
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	78	53
😀 Quality of life	66	44
🏙️ Population	6.6M	2.11M

The cost of living in Chennai is 11% less expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 8897th and 8745th ($430 vs $481) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 47th in India and Indonesia, respectively. Check India vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 4021st and 6633rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Medan

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

	Chennai	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.83	$1.97
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.6	$12.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.01	$3.31
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$2.39
☕ Cappuccino	$1.98	$2.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$102	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$470	$469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$254	$265
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.5	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$62.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.3	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	9.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1935	$1337
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$767	$614
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$8.02
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.84	$2.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.51	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.91	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.5	$8.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.5	$6.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$0.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.67	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$2.26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.82	$2.01
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$2.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$0.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$0.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.7	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.86	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$2.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.2	$55.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.7	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1573	$10763

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 Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501