Cost of living in Patna for a coaching student
A real monthly budget, built from the rents we have actually audited rather than from a survey.
Most budget articles about Patna quote a rent number and stop. That is the part students already know. What catches people out is everything around it — the electricity bill that arrives in May, the photocopy costs in the month before prelims, the auto fare that doubles when it rains.
Here is what a month genuinely looks like for a coaching student living in a shared PG, using rents from properties we have inspected ourselves.
Rent
Four-sharing in Musallahpur Hat starts around ₹3,800. Triple sharing near Patna University runs ₹4,600 to ₹5,600. In the Boring Road coaching belt, expect ₹6,900 upward for triple sharing and ₹9,500 or more for a double with AC. A single room anywhere near the coaching is ₹11,000 at the lower end.
What sits on top of the rent
Electricity is the big one. Most PGs charge on actuals against a sub-meter, and a room with an AC running through May and June can add ₹1,200 to ₹2,000 a month. Some budget properties charge a flat ₹250 to ₹300 instead, which is cheaper but usually means no AC and limited backup. Laundry is ₹300 to ₹400 where it is not included. Lunch is sometimes extra at properties serving only two meals — budget ₹900 to ₹1,200.
Coaching and study material
This varies too much to average, but the pattern is consistent: the fee is annual, the material is monthly, and photocopying and test series cost far more than students plan for. Set aside something every month rather than absorbing it in the prelims month.
Getting about
If you live within a kilometre of your institute you can walk, and that is worth real money over a year. Shared autos across the city are cheap; the cost that creeps up is the individual auto you take when you are late or it is raining. Students who pick a PG ten minutes further out to save ₹800 a month often give most of it back in fares.
The honest total
A frugal month in a four-sharing room near Musallahpur Hat, with two meals included and no AC, lands around ₹6,000 to ₹7,500 all in. A comfortable month in the Boring Road belt — triple sharing, AC, three meals, laundry — is closer to ₹10,000 to ₹12,500. Neither figure includes coaching fees.
Where the money leaks
Brokerage. A dalal in Patna will commonly ask for up to a full month’s rent simply to show you rooms, and then has every reason to move you again in three months. On PG Mila you pay nothing — owners pay us a commission when you move in. Over a two-year preparation that difference is a month of living costs.
Looking for a verified PG in Patna?
Every property on PG Mila has been visited and photographed by our team. Zero brokerage, free visits, no pressure.