Chennai vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chennai	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$4441
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1140	$10033
🏠 One person rent	$152	$2960
🏘️ Family rent	$346	$5380
🍽️ Food expenses	$163	$886
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.4	$364
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$848	$5544
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	78	100
😀 Quality of life	66	95
🏙️ Population	6.6M	8.8M

The cost of living in Chennai is 90% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 8897th and 3rd ($430 vs $4441) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th 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 2 months in Chennai compared to 1.2 months in New York City. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 4021st and 22nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs New York City infographic

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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	$1.83	$29.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.6	$133
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.01	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$1.98	$5.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$3.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$3501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$102	$2603
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$470	$4776
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$254	$5236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.5	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.3	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1935	$17935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$767	$12929
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.84	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.51	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$7.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.91	$5.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.5	$17.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$15.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.5	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$7.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$6.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$6.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$3.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$3.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$3.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.67	$20
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$2.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$18.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.82	$9.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$5.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$6.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.7	$71
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.86	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$173
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$36.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.2	$67.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.7	$1784
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1573	$21465

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111