Chennai vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chennai	Surabaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$437	$551
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1065	$1391
🏠 One person rent	$159	$222
🏘️ Family rent	$272	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$164	$219
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.2	$49.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$321	$360
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	78	75
😀 Quality of life	65	68
🏙️ Population	6.6M	3.01M

The cost of living in Chennai is 21% less expensive than in Surabaya. Cities ranked 8898th and 8275th ($437 vs $551) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 14th in India and Indonesia, respectively. Check India vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 0.7 months in Surabaya. Chennai ranked 5th best city to live in India vs Surabaya ranked 1st in Indonesia, while ranked 5272nd and 4631st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chennai vs Surabaya infographic

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Prices in Chennai vs Surabaya

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

	Chennai	Surabaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.25	$1.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.1	$13.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.91	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.97	$2.41
☕ Cappuccino	$1.95	$1.74
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.47	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$230
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$108	$138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$410
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$194	$251
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.5	$46.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$8.96	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.55%	7.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1914	$2226
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$746	$1338
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.34	$0.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.3	$8.97
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.73	$4.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.49	$1.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.73	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.87	$1.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$9.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$3.24
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.62	$8.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.25
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.42	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.05	$30
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.82	$2.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.8	$2.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$2.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$0.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.4	$21.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.79	$2.98
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.9	$12
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.7	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$25.8	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$50.4	$76.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$70.8	$185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1729	$9160

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 Surabaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Mojokerto	$413
48 km or 30 mi	Pasuruan	$457
73 km or 45 mi	Batu	$409
77 km or 48 mi	Probolinggo	$470
83 km or 51 mi	Malang	$384
102 km or 63 mi	Kediri	$447
115 km or 71 mi	Blitar	$440
141 km or 87 mi	Madiun	$456
215 km or 133 mi	Surakarta	$409
247 km or 153 mi	Salatiga	$422
258 km or 160 mi	Semarang	$488
269 km or 167 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
286 km or 177 mi	Bali	$1134
311 km or 194 mi	Ubud	$834
315 km or 196 mi	Denpasar	$489
340 km or 211 mi	Pekalongan	$471
400 km or 249 mi	Tegal	$482
401 km or 249 mi	Mataram	$402
414 km or 257 mi	Cilacap	$478
464 km or 288 mi	Banjar	$488
464 km or 288 mi	Cirebon	$523
476 km or 296 mi	Banjarbaru	$449
481 km or 299 mi	Banjarmasin	$459
501 km or 311 mi	Tasikmalaya	$367
572 km or 355 mi	Bandung	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Palangka Raya	$470
576 km or 358 mi	Cimahi	$490
642 km or 399 mi	Sukabumi	$561
644 km or 400 mi	Bekasi	$555
659 km or 410 mi	Bogor	$480
660 km or 410 mi	Depok	$400
661 km or 411 mi	Jakarta	$699
672 km or 418 mi	Bima	$588
673 km or 418 mi	South Tangerang	$567
685 km or 425 mi	Tangerang	$665
738 km or 459 mi	Serang	$517
756 km or 470 mi	Cilegon	$511
774 km or 481 mi	Makassar	$523
820 km or 510 mi	Balikpapan	$598
842 km or 523 mi	Parepare	$502