Chennai vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chennai	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1140	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$152	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$346	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$163	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$65.4	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$848	$4315
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	78	100
😀 Quality of life	66	100
🏙️ Population	6.6M	4.84M

The cost of living in Chennai is 83% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 8897th and 745th ($430 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1st in India and Australia, respectively. Check India vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Chennai compared to 1.7 months in Sydney. Chennai ranked 4th best city to live in India vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 4021st and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chennai vs Sydney infographic

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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	$1.83	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.6	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.01	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$1.98	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$102	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$470	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$254	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$25.5	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.3	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.23%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1935	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$767	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.84	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.51	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$0.91	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.5	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.5	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.22	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.67	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.82	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.79	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.7	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.86	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$26.2	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$80.7	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1573	$17957

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chennai

Distance	City	Cost of living
111 km or 69 mi	Tirupati	$315
124 km or 77 mi	Vellore	$258
125 km or 78 mi	Chittoor	$354
138 km or 85 mi	Pondicherry	$360
153 km or 95 mi	Nellore	$514
159 km or 99 mi	Cuddalore	$306
198 km or 123 mi	Madanapalle	$346
219 km or 136 mi	Kadapa	$367
260 km or 162 mi	Proddatur	$355
269 km or 167 mi	Ongole	$338
279 km or 173 mi	Salem	$304
282 km or 175 mi	Thanjavur	$302
290 km or 180 mi	Bangalore	$533
304 km or 189 mi	Chirala	$311
305 km or 189 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$314
312 km or 194 mi	Hindupur	$375
328 km or 204 mi	Nandyal	$359
338 km or 210 mi	Anantapur	$304
339 km or 211 mi	Erode	$295
344 km or 214 mi	Tumkur	$351
353 km or 219 mi	Tenali	$292
354 km or 220 mi	Machilipatnam	$316
357 km or 222 mi	Guntur	$280
361 km or 224 mi	Tiruppur	$300
383 km or 238 mi	Vijayawada	$354
388 km or 241 mi	Kurnool	$349
396 km or 246 mi	Dindigul	$316
402 km or 250 mi	Mysore	$311
411 km or 256 mi	Eluru	$304
423 km or 263 mi	Madurai	$310
428 km or 266 mi	Coimbatore	$339
428 km or 266 mi	Adoni	$366
453 km or 282 mi	Nalgonda	$298
462 km or 287 mi	Rajahmundry	$330
463 km or 288 mi	Khammam	$272
474 km or 294 mi	Mahbubnagar	$357
476 km or 296 mi	Kakinada	$307
482 km or 300 mi	Hospet	$272
494 km or 307 mi	Davanagere	$292
509 km or 317 mi	Malappuram	$306

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1669
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683