Chennai vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Chennai	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$409	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1006	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$142	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$243	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$156	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$67	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$254	$5389
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	79	100
😀 Quality of life	65	95
🏙️ Population	6.6M	8.8M

The cost of living in Chennai is 90% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 8947th and 4th ($409 vs $4202) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 15th and 1st in India and the United States, respectively. Check India vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Chennai compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Chennai ranked 2nd best city to live in India vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 5131st and 15th 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/new-york.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Chennai vs New York City infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/chennai/new-york" target="_blank">Chennai vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Chennai vs New York City

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

	Chennai	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.12	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.9	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.18	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.57	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$1.59	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.41	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$160	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$97.5	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$282	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$178	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$36.6	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.79	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.78%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1739	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$712	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.75	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.5	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.85	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.29	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.85	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.01	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.82	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.37	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.75	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.25	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.94	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.73	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.6	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.6	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29.9	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.53	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$37.6	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$71.7	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1792	$21713

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192