Chennai vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Chennai	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$409	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1006	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$142	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$243	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$156	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$67	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$254	$4489
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	79	100
😀 Quality of life	65	100
🏙️ Population	6.6M	5.35M

The cost of living in Chennai is 84% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 8947th and 829th ($409 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 15th and 4th in India and Australia, respectively. Check India vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Chennai compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 5131st and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Chennai vs Melbourne

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

	Chennai	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.12	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.9	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.18	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.57	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$1.59	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.41	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$160	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$97.5	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$282	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$178	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$36.6	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.79	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.78%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1739	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$712	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.75	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.5	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.85	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.29	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.85	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.01	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.82	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.37	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.75	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.25	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.94	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.73	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.6	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.6	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.9	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.53	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$37.6	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$71.7	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1792	$22313

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	$306
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$232
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$302
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$322
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$508
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$294
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$320
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$348
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$339
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$317
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$283
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$275
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$507
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$290
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$297
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$339
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$325
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$331
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$274
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$303
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$273
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$292
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$265
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$330
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$328
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$317
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$290
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$332
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$280
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$342
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$313
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$359
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$255
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$281
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$247
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$327
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$271
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$250
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$264
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$259

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1834
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1813
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1913
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1933
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1896
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1915
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1936
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2179
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1606
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$2000
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1816
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1868
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1825
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1728
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2258
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1905
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1795
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2364
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1460
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1701
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2355
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1709
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1855
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2481
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2040
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2354
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1995
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1273
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132