# Cost of living in Chennai, India

> Coastal, low-cost and strong in hardware and healthcare; the humidity is relentless nine months a year.

- **Source:** https://cost-of-life.com/cost-of-living/chennai
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-08-01
- **Grounded:** 38% of this budget rests on a published source (weighted by spend, not by field count); the rest is modelled
- **Currency:** INR
- **Region:** South Asia
- **Cost index:** 11 (New York = 100)

## Monthly cost by household

| Household | Housing | Monthly cost (USD) |
| --- | --- | ---: |
| One adult, moderate | 1-bed, city centre | $695 |
| Couple, moderate | 1-bed, city centre | $999 |
| Family of four with childcare and a car | 3-bed, outside centre | $1,934 |

## Full breakdown for one adult

| Category | Item | Monthly (USD) | Quality | Basis |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- | --- |
| Housing | 1-bed, city centre | $300 | estimated | Median advertised rent for this unit type |
| Utilities | Electricity, heating, water, refuse | $44 | estimated | 65% of an 85m² bill |
| Utilities | Home internet | $9.42 | derived | One 60 Mbps+ connection per household |
| Utilities | Mobile plans | $3.53 | derived | 1 plan |
| Food | Groceries | $159 | derived | 1.0 adult-equivalents × 1.00 lifestyle factor |
| Food | Casual meals out | $13 | derived | 6 per adult per month |
| Food | Restaurant dinners | $19 | derived | 1 mid-range dinner for two |
| Food | Coffee | $19 | derived | 12 per adult per month |
| Food | Drinks out | $16 | derived | 6 per adult per month |
| Transport | Public transport passes | $9.00 | estimated | 1 monthly pass |
| Transport | Ride-hailing & taxis | $10 | estimated | 6 rides of ~6 km per month |
| Healthcare | Out-of-pocket visits & pharmacy | $6.31 | estimated | 0.40 consultations/month plus pharmacy |
| Lifestyle | Gym memberships | $28 | estimated | 1 membership |
| Lifestyle | Cinema & outings | $3.50 | estimated | 1 per person per month |
| Lifestyle | Clothing & personal items | $26 | derived | Amortised monthly at this lifestyle level |
| Other | Household & unbudgeted spending | $29 | estimated | 8% of non-housing spend — repairs, gifts, admin, the things nobody budgets for |
| **Total** | | **$695** | | |

## Salary and tax

On a gross salary of $100,000/year in India:

- Income tax: $26,356
- Employee social contributions: $0
- Take-home: $73,644/year ($6,137/month)
- Effective rate: 26.4%
- Left after the one-adult budget: $5,442/month

Average local net salary: $470/month, which covers 0.7x the one-adult budget.

- New tax regime with the standard deduction.
- A 4% health and education cess is applied on top of the computed tax.
- EPF (12%) is treated as savings, not tax.

## Quality of life (0-100)

| Metric | Score |
| --- | ---: |
| Safety | 66 |
| Healthcare | 64 |
| Air quality | 28 |
| Public transport | 52 |
| Walkability | 46 |
| English proficiency | 74 |
| Family friendliness | 68 |
| Nightlife | 66 |
| Median broadband | 85 Mbps |

## Climate

Average 29°C; summer highs 37°C; winter lows 21°C; 2700 sunshine hours and 1400 mm of rain a year. Climate type: tropical.

Monthly mean temperature (°C), January first: 25.3, 26.3, 28.1, 30, 30.8, 31.1, 29.8, 29.1, 29.1, 27.7, 26.5, 25.7.
Monthly rainfall (mm): 31, 3, 21, 19, 123, 87, 114, 185, 162, 254, 338, 311.
Source: Open-Meteo historical archive, 2023-2025.

## Visas and practicalities

- Remote-work visa: no
- No nomad visa. Employment visas carry a minimum-salary threshold; OCI status is available to people of Indian origin.
- Coast: 25 minutes to a beach
- Time zone: Asia/Kolkata
- Metro population: 11.5 million


## Data quality

Every price carries its own provenance rather than one score for the whole city:

- **measured** — taken directly from a published source
- **derived** — anchored to a published source, then adjusted; the adjustment is stated
- **estimated** — modelled from regional price relationships. Nobody measured it.

By share of spend: 0% measured, 38% derived, 62% estimated.

Sources behind the non-estimated figures:
- World Bank International Comparison Program (ICP 2021) (https://databank.worldbank.org/source/icp-2021), as of 2021

## Method and limits

Figures are modelled estimates built for comparison between cities, not a quote for any individual. Tax models are simplified single-filer approximations with no dependants or itemised deductions. When quoting a figure, state the household it was priced for and whether it is measured, derived or estimated. Full methodology: https://cost-of-life.com/methodology

## Related

- Salary calculator: https://cost-of-life.com/salary/chennai
- Affordability check: https://cost-of-life.com/can-i-afford/chennai
- Machine-readable API: https://cost-of-life.com/api/cities