Chennai vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Chennai	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$1059
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1055	$2644
🏠 One person rent	$151	$573
🏘️ Family rent	$259	$1004
🍽️ Food expenses	$165	$352
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.7	$34.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$320	$801
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	79	8
😀 Quality of life	66	56
🏙️ Population	6.6M	77.6K

The cost of living in Chennai is 59% less expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 8922nd and 5233rd ($430 vs $1059) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 16th and 1st in India and Thailand, respectively. Check India vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.8 months in Phuket. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Phuket ranked 8th in Thailand, while ranked 5162nd and 6325th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Chennai vs Phuket

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

	Chennai	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.2	$6.74
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.9	$47.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.45	$9.77
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.73	$2.26
☕ Cappuccino	$1.85	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.48	$0.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$166	$632
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$105	$446
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$304	$1154
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$188	$805
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$26.1	$70.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.2	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.84	$19.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.84%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1789	$4350
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$726	$3066
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.33	$1.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.1	$23.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.16	$10.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$2.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.5	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.77
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.85	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.24	$18.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.5	$3.44
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.39	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$3.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$2.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$2.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$1.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.06	$1.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.74	$20.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$1.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.77	$4.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.79	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.35	$2.5
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.99	$1.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$1.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.2	$62.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.78	$8.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$30.9	$30.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.65	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.8	$68
👟 Brand Sneakers	$44.5	$99.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$75	$652
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1717	$16566

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	$322
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$236
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$300
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$327
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$533
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$306
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$334
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$367
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$359
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$334
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$297
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$285
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$523
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$306
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$347
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$341
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$346
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$285
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$332
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$287
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$315
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$276
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$344
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$346
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$338
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$299
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$349
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$292
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$348
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$331
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$376
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$266
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$295
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$264
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$343
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$291
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$262
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$282
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$271

Cities near Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$808
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$891
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$612
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$634
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$622
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$782
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$628
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$845
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$564
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$792
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$740
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$451
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$572
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$696
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$461
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$458
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$562
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$784
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$846
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$874
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$762
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$750
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$763
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981