Purchasing Power Parity · India
Cost of living in 🇮🇳 India vs the United States
India has a US-relative price level of 0.231 (US = 1.0) — about 77% cheaper than the United States. Reference year 2025.
What US salaries are worth in India
| US income | Feels like (US-equivalent) | Cost of a US lifestyle |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $216,450 | $11,550 |
| $80,000 | $346,320 | $18,480 |
| $120,000 | $519,481 | $27,720 |
| $180,000 | $779,221 | $41,580 |
| $250,000 | $1,082,251 | $57,750 |
“Feels like” = income ÷ price level; “cost of a US lifestyle” = income × price level. Try your own number in the interactive calculator.
How the sources compare
Each provider measures India's price level slightly differently; a tight spread means high confidence.
Consensus (median) 0.231 2025
World Bank — GDP 0.230 2025
IMF (WEO) 0.230 2025
OECD 0.231 2025
Penn World Table 0.251 2023
World Bank — Consumption 0.228 2025
Big Mac Index 0.395 2026
Cost of living around the world
Every country shaded by its price level relative to the US (darker = more expensive). India is outlined.
Cheaper → pricier · click a country to open its page
Countries with a similar cost of living
- 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone — price level 0.232
- 🇧🇹 Bhutan — price level 0.236
- 🇸🇩 Sudan — price level 0.241
- 🇳🇵 Nepal — price level 0.243
- 🇵🇰 Pakistan — price level 0.217
Relocating for work? See the fair salary from the US to India or use the Fair Pay Localizer.
Frequently asked questions
- How expensive is India compared to the United States?
- India has a price level of 0.231 relative to the US baseline of 1.0 (about 77% cheaper than the United States), based on the median of independent votes from the World Bank/IMF (one vote — both use the official exchange rate), the Eurostat-OECD PPP programme and the Penn World Table, reference year 2025.
- What is a $100,000 salary worth in India?
- In purchasing-power terms, $100,000 stretches to about $432,900 of US-equivalent lifestyle in India; conversely, sustaining a $100,000 US lifestyle there costs about $23,100.
- Where does the India cost-of-living data come from?
- Real price-level figures from the World Bank, IMF World Economic Outlook, OECD, Eurostat and Penn World Table, blended as a per-country median of independent votes and refreshed at build time.