Chennai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$159	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	78	1
😀 Quality of life	65	25
🏙️ Population	6.6M	63.4K

The cost of living in Chennai is 18% less expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 8898th and 8428th ($437 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1st in India and Kiribati, respectively. Check India vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 5272nd and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chennai vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs South Tarawa

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

	Chennai	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.25	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$3644

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 South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637