The most affordable cities in our index, head to head

Kolkata56

Hyderabad58

Kochi59

Chennai56

Delhi58

Affordability

82

80

80

79

79

Safety

65

61

66

62

51

Healthcare

54

58

58

62

60

Career

50

64

54

57

61

Culture & food

76

71

68

65

76

Public life & spaces

33

37

48

41

33

Overall

56

58

59

56

58

Objective 0–100 scores from source-backed CrossBorders data. Green marks the category leader; gold is the overall leader.

Which city is the most affordable?

Kolkata has the lowest open-market one-bedroom rent on a new lease in this group, at about €91 per month; Hyderabad, Chennai, and Delhi share the highest, at about €136. Against one typical employee's mean net pay, Kolkata has the lightest burden at roughly 48% (tight alone), while Kochi has the heaviest at roughly 65% (sharing likely).

Which city is the safest?

Kochi leads this cohort on safety, followed by Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi. This compares only Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Delhi across the current safety measures.

Which city has the best healthcare?

Chennai leads this cohort on healthcare, followed by Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Kolkata. This compares only Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Delhi across the current healthcare measures.

Which city is best for your career?

Hyderabad leads this cohort on career, followed by Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, and Kolkata. This compares only Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Delhi across the current career measures.

Which city has the best food and culture?

Kolkata and Delhi share the lead in this cohort on culture and food, followed by Hyderabad, Kochi, and Chennai. This compares only Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Delhi across the current culture and food measures.

Which city has the best public life?

Kochi leads this cohort on public life and spaces, followed by Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Delhi. This compares only Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai, and Delhi across the current public life and spaces measures.