Chennai vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Chennai	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1055	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$151	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$259	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$165	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.7	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$320	$4145
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	79	99
😀 Quality of life	66	98
🏙️ Population	6.6M	5.45M

The cost of living in Chennai is 85% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 8922nd and 348th ($430 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 16th and 1st in India and Australia, respectively. Check India vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Chennai compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 5162nd and 2nd 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 Sydney

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

	Chennai	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.2	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.9	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.45	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.73	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$1.85	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.48	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$166	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$105	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$304	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$188	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$26.1	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.2	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.84	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.84%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1789	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$726	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.33	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.1	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.16	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.5	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.85	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.24	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.5	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.39	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.48	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.06	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.74	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.77	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.79	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.35	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.99	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.78	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$15.2	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.78	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$30.9	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.65	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.8	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$44.5	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$75	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1717	$21946

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864