The Momo vs Vada Pav war is not merely about food but also about which city is better for leading a comfortable life.
Delhi is a better place to live if your goal is to get affordable housing and food, government job opportunities, and excellent transport connectivity. Mumbai is a better place to live if you’re looking for a safer environment, slightly better AQI, and social interaction with less conservative people.
Some of what you have heard about these cities is true but there is a lot more to uncover. Delhi isn’t as bad as depicted, and Mumbai isn’t as great as it seems.
Comparing Life in Delhi and Mumbai
1. Studying in Delhi vs Mumbai
Primary and Secondary Education
Delhi and Mumbai provide equally good primary education. Both cities have government schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas, which are affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Apart from these, both cities have prominent private and international schools. These schools have better educational infrastructure and teacher-pupil ratios than government schools.
Most Mumbai parents prefer to enroll their children in schools affiliated with CBSE. Still, some parents can choose Maharashtra state board-affiliated schools.
State board students have to change their schools after 10th grade, and the state board is also known to be stricter than CBSE when it comes to grading.
One interesting thing is that Mumbai’s 11th and 12th standards are called junior colleges! Delhi never had a state board until 2021, but the Maharashtra board has been there since 1965.
Students in Mumbai who want to take national-level competitive exams enroll in coaching classes and also prefer to study in CBSE-affiliated schools.
The Maharashtra State Board syllabus doesn’t equip them enough to deal with questions asked in national-level competitive exams, as it requires a deeper understanding and application of the concepts.
Most students in Mumbai become trilingual, as schools in Maharashtra have Marathi as a compulsory subject apart from English and Hindi until the 10th standard.
From 11th and 12th onwards, it becomes optional, and the students get to select their mother tongue.
This isn’t the case with students in Delhi, as they only learn two languages, English and Hindi, unless a third language is introduced in grade 4 or 5.
An example of a famous school in Delhi is the Vasant Valley School, which provides top-notch education to children.
It is a CBSE and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) affiliated school.
The quarterly tuition fee for the foundation level to class 5 is ₹44,760; for classes 6th to 10th, it is ₹51,444; for classes 11th and 12th, it is ₹61,248.
Parents must also pay other fees like annual charges, development fees, etc.
On the other hand, Podar International School in Mumbai is considered very popular among parents who want to enroll their children in CBSE-affiliated schools.
This school has more branches affiliated with boards like CBSE, ICSE and IB. RN Podar International School is affiliated with CBSE and offers education from class 1 to class 12th.
The half-yearly tuition fee for class 1 to class 5 is ₹67,410; for class 6 to class 10 is ₹67,410; for classes 11th and 12th (commerce stream), it is ₹1,40,400; and for science stream, it is ₹1,53,480.
Government schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas in both Delhi and Mumbai charge the same fees.
Higher Education
Delhi and Mumbai both have world-class higher educational institutions. Delhi has institutions for all courses.
For medicine, there’s AIIMS; for STEM, there’s IIT Delhi; for commerce and humanities, there are renowned colleges like St. Stephen’s, and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) affiliated with Delhi University.
For language-related courses, there’s JNU, and for distance learning, IGNOU is available.
According to NIRF 2024 rankings, Delhi University has ranked number 6, and JNU has been a close competitor at rank 2. Meanwhile, Mumbai University comes somewhere much later at the 61st spot.
This tells us how Delhi University is way better than Mumbai University.
But Mumbai has better private universities like NMIMS (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies) and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) that offer competitive quality education to management and humanities students.
Mumbai University also offers some niche courses related to film and television that aren’t offered by the universities in Delhi.
Delhi University has colleges that charge a wide range of fees from unreserved category students. None of the colleges charge more than ₹55,000 for the first year.
B. Com (Hons) in SRCC (the top college in DU) charges ₹15,000, and Acharya Narendra Dev College (not a very popular college in DU) charges ₹7,695 for the same course.
Fees are much lower for students from the reserved category.
One of the renowned colleges affiliated with Mumbai University is the Mithibai College and the fees for courses start at ₹12,650 (B.A. and B.Com) and go up to ₹1.2 lakhs (B.Com with Management and Finance) for the first year.
Students not from the Maharashtra Board must pay ₹720 extra for the first year. The fee for students from the reserved category is ₹2430, which is much lower than that for unreserved category students.
2. Working in Delhi vs Mumbai
In Delhi, you can find job opportunities in public administration, policy-making, academics, and government job sectors. It is much easier to get access to national political exposure in Delhi.
The finance and technology sector has started growing now. Delhi itself does not have many technology-related job opportunities.
However, in the National Capital Region (NCR) (Gurgaon and Noida specifically), you can find a lot of tech companies and Multinational Companies (MNCs).
Mumbai offers more job opportunities in the creative and financial fields.
As the financial capital of India, Mumbai hosts the headquarters of the RBI and all the major national (State Bank of India) and international banks (HSBC Bank).
Do check out my article on ‘Why is Delhi the Capital of India Instead of Mumbai‘ to understand how only revenue generation doesn’t matter while selecting the capital of a country.
Mumbai is the hub for actors, with people migrating from all over India, and offers better media and filmmaking exposure.
When it comes to salaries, a Business analyst with 1-3 years of experience will earn somewhere around 5-10 lakhs per year in Delhi, whereas the same role with the same expertise and experience offers 5-10.3 lakhs per year to a person in Mumbai.
Even though the salary is a bit higher in Mumbai, the disposable income left for savings is very little, as the cost of living in Mumbai is much higher than in Delhi.
Office politics exist in both Delhi and Mumbai, but companies in Mumbai have better employee policies.
For example, one of my friends working in Mumbai gets an extra holiday if a festival falls on a Saturday or Sunday—something I don’t have in Delhi and haven’t heard of from my Delhi friends.
3. Living in Delhi vs Mumbai
My friend who came to Delhi rented a decent and spacious single-sharing PG room with an attached bathroom and got three meals per day for ₹22k per month in South Delhi (the prices are much lower in other parts of Delhi).
But when the same friend went PG hunting in Mumbai, she rented a single-sharing PG room without an attached bathroom and got only two meals per day for ₹28k per month in South Mumbai (Matunga).
This is quite expensive compared to Delhi. Space is a luxury in Mumbai. Traffic is a major issue in both Delhi and Mumbai.
According to the annual traffic congestion report 2023, New Delhi and Mumbai ranked 3rd and 4th spots, respectively, with only a slight difference in their scores.
Public Transport
Most people use the Delhi metro to travel. It has a total coverage of 393 km spread across 12 lines.
The frequency of trains is higher during peak hours and on busier lines (like the yellow line on a weekday, which gets a train every 2-3 minutes).
While the frequency of trains on non-busier/non-peak hours lines is much more relaxed, and you can expect a metro every 5-10+ minutes.
The fare for the Delhi Metro is between ₹10 and ₹70 (for the farthest station or Airport Line). Apart from this, some local trains run daily from Delhi’s stations.
These are mostly the trains that connect Delhi to Ghaziabad, Mathura, Aligarh, Meerut, Hapur, Sonepat, etc.
One can board these trains from the main railway stations of Delhi, like the New Delhi Railway Station, Old Delhi Railway Station, and Anand Vihar Railway Station, or secondary stations like Shakurbasti, Tughlaqabad, Shahdara, Sarai Rohilla, or Tilak Bridge.
Delhi metro stations aren’t connected to these trains even if they drop you nearby. Bus connectivity in Delhi is not the best, but it is still reliable.
Sometimes, I still take a DTC bus to reach the metro station and I often observe that if one bus arrives, three or four same-route buses show up at once, and if they don’t, there’s none for a long time.
Mumbai local, on the other hand, is much cheaper than Delhi metro. You can travel one way in general class for ₹10.
But if you want to travel in first class or an AC compartment, you must pay around ₹40-₹50 for a one-time journey.
Mumbai also has metro services that are similar to the Delhi metro; however, the number of lines and stations is nowhere as extensive.
You can expect the Mumbai metro one-way fare to be somewhere between ₹10 to ₹60 if you’re travelling from the first to the last station on a long route.
People usually use autos to get to the train station or from one place to another. The charges are between ₹30 and ₹40 for 1 km.
Autos run everywhere except South Bombay, as they’re not allowed in the area beyond a certain point.
Street Food and Groceries
Delhi is renowned for having the tastiest food, and people from Mumbai and all over India can agree if they’re really being impartial.
Many people from Delhi would say they couldn’t find a delicious plate of rajma chawal or chhole bhature in Mumbai.
Street food in Delhi mostly has chhole kulche, chhole bhature, chaat like gol gappe, papdi chaat, bhelpuri, momos, kachori, and samosa. You can easily get one plate of each item for ₹30-₹40.
Mumbai street food mainly serves vada pav, bun maska, pani puri (known as gol gappe in Delhi!) and other items like misal pav, usal pav, bhel puri, and sev puri.
A plate of each item is available for ₹30-₹50 in Mumbai. Cost-wise, you can get a similar quantity of street food for similar prices in both cities.
Groceries are slightly cheaper in Delhi than in Mumbai. Here’s a detailed breakdown of prices from Blinkit for both the cities.
| Grocery Item | Quantity | Price in Delhi | Price in Mumbai |
|---|---|---|---|
| India Gate Rozana Pure Basmati Rice | 5 kg | ₹454 | ₹454 |
| Aashirvad Select 100% MP Sharbati Atta | 5 kg | ₹308 | ₹314 |
| Tata Sampann Unpolished Toor Dal | 1 kg | ₹211 | ₹198 |
| Tata Sampann Unpolished Moong Dal (Dhuli) Split | 1 kg | ₹178 | ₹178 |
| Madhur Pure & Hygienic Sulphurless Sugar | 1 kg | ₹57 | ₹54 |
| Desi Tomato | 1 kg | ₹32 | ₹36 |
| Potato – New Crop | 1 kg | ₹33 | ₹42 |
| Onion | 1 kg | ₹47 | ₹42 |
| Kissan Fresh Tomato Ketchup | 1.1 kg | ₹117 | ₹117 |
| Kissan Mixed Fruit Jam | 200 g | ₹85 | ₹85 |
| Kinnaur Apples | 4 pcs (500-600 g) | ₹134 | ₹190 |
| Tata Tea Premium | 250 g | ₹140 | ₹155 |
| English Oven Milk Bread | 400 g | ₹50 | ₹45 |
| Amul Gold Full Cream Fresh Milk | 1 litre | ₹68 | ₹68 |
| Fortune Sunlite Refined Sunflower Oil | 1 litre | ₹160 | ₹151 |
| Eggoz Nutrition Protein Rich White Eggs | 10 pcs | ₹116 | ₹109 |
| Bananas | 1 dozen | ₹180 | ₹144 |
| Tide Plus Double Power Detergent | 1 kg | ₹132 | ₹146 |
| TOTAL | ₹2,502 | ₹2,528 |
Social Interaction
People in Mumbai are very busy and won’t bother you, but if you ask them for help, they will go out of their way to help you. You won’t feel threatened by anyone, even living alone there.
Most women would agree with this. They think that Mumbai is that city where they can wear whatever they want, party till late, and not worry about their safety.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau Report (NCRB) of 2022, the highest number of crimes against women was reported in Delhi at 14,158 cases per one lakh of population, whereas Mumbai only reported 6,176 cases.
Mumbaikars can speak in Hindi, and you don’t have to learn Marathi to talk to them. People who can speak in Marathi are treated the same as those who can’t.
People in Delhi often lean towards a conservative mindset, and there can be a tendency to be judgmental towards people with a more liberal attitude.
I’ve spoken to a few people from Mumbai, and they are much more open-minded. But Delhi people aren’t as bad as the media portrays them.
Just like in Mumbai, auto drivers in Delhi may overcharge you sometimes, but there have been instances where I used to walk back alone from my college, and I was dropped off by an auto driver for free.
Delhi people are friendly and will help you whenever you need them. People from Delhi can be a little savage and outspoken compared to people from Mumbai.
People in Delhi speak in Hindi and aren’t usually mean to those who can’t. But people from outside can get name-called, which can be seen in schools too.
For example, calling every South Indian Madraasi and North-East Indian Chinki or Nepali is not unheard of. Most road accidents happen when people don’t follow traffic rules.
Delhi is notorious for road rage and flouting traffic rules. Many people in Delhi are aggressive and won’t think twice before engaging in fights, which is rarely seen in Mumbai.
According to NCRB Report 2022, 1420 road accidents happened due to negligence in Delhi.
On the other hand, Mumbai had only 407 such incidents, which tells us that people in Mumbai are also much more cautious when driving.
Mumbai is much better when it comes to following traffic rules. People are generally calmer and believe in apologizing and letting go.
Climate
Delhi and Mumbai have very different weather systems. Delhi, being in northern India, experiences extreme summers and winters.
The average maximum temperature in Delhi can be around 41℃ in summer, and the maximum temperature broke all the records and touched an all-time high of 49.9 ℃ in 2024.
In winter, the average minimum temperature can range between 5 ℃ and 10 ℃. Some nights in winter can even break decade-old records by falling as low as 0 ℃.
As Delhi faces the issue of pollution throughout the year, the AQI is terrible year-round. It worsens during winters due to smog and crop stubble burning in neighboring states.
Delhi’s daily average AQI in 2023 was 204, which is the poor category. On November 19th 2024, Delhi’s 24-hour AQI reading was 488, and at least 5 AQI stations in Delhi reported an AQI of 500.
Delhi breathes slightly better during monsoon as the AQI levels drop. Mumbai, on the other hand, doesn’t have extreme summers and winters but experiences extreme rainfall.
The average maximum temperature in Mumbai during summers can be nearly 34℃, and in winters, the average minimum temperature can be nearly 17℃.
The humidity is also very high during the monsoon, and the relative humidity can be nearly 87%.
Usually, Delhi receives an average of 640 mm of rainfall every year during the monsoon, whereas Mumbai receives more than 2000 mm of rain every year.
The AQI in Mumbai can reach up to 180 during winter, but humidity and sea wind prevent it from increasing more than that.
Even though the AQI is considered moderate and can cause breathing discomfort to some people, it is not as bad as the Delhi AQI.