Chennai vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$159	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	78	82
😀 Quality of life	65	90
🏙️ Population	6.6M	468K

The cost of living in Chennai is 81% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 8898th and 1213th ($437 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1060th 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 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 5272nd and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Raleigh infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Raleigh

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

	Chennai	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.25	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$24117

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	$327
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$235
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$291
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$327
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$535
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$300
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$327
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$368
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$367
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$334
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$295
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$275
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$524
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$304
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$341
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$347
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$345
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$286
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$355
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$290
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$307
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$277
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$347
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$339
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$345
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$310
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$346
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$298
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$347
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$326
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$383
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$266
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$301
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$265
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$353
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$291
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$266
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$295
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$286

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766