The Dowry Price Index
3,543 people, 26,419 answers, one interactive map of what India thinks a groom is worth.
What this measures, and what it does not
These are answers people gave a satirical calculator. Nobody was asked what they paid. They picked a qualification, a job, a salary and a city, and the calculator returned a deliberately absurd figure. So this measures which combinations people found plausible enough to enter: perception, from a self-selected group who found a joke calculator through Google. It is not representative of India, and it is not dowry that changed hands.
Volume counts everyone who answered at least one question. Rupee figures count only people who answered every question, because there is no total until all the inputs exist. For prevalence and prosecutions, use the NCRB statistics.
Where it is being used
Where the numbers run highest
Rajasthan tops it at 62.1% of finished sums reaching ₹75 lakh or more. West Bengal is lowest at 36.6%. Full state map.
Where the numbers land
Who is answering
What moves the number
Education moves it more than anything else: MBBS at 95.5% against Class 12 at 12.6%. The degree ladder, and by profession.
Outside India
Calculations from the United States reach 87.9% against 48.6% inside India. The world map.
Show the underlying numbers
| Band | Calculations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| under 5L | 239 | 5.8% |
| 5L to 15L | 401 | 9.7% |
| 15L to 30L | 500 | 12.1% |
| 30L to 75L | 896 | 21.7% |
| 75L to 1.5Cr | 603 | 14.6% |
| 1.5Cr to 5Cr | 796 | 19.3% |
| over 5Cr | 692 | 16.8% |
Use the data
Everything here is one JSON file, CC BY 4.0, and a read-only MCP server. Every map and chart on the site is drawn from that file, so the pictures and the data cannot drift apart.
Questions
Is this how much dowry actually costs in India?
No. These are answers people gave a satirical calculator, not transactions. It measures what combinations people found plausible. For prevalence, see NCRB.
How big is the sample?
3,543 people who answered at least one question, giving 26,419 answers, between 2026-08-09 to 2026-09-08. Of those, 4,127 answered every question and so produced a rupee figure.
Why are some numbers based on fewer people?
Volume figures count everyone who answered anything. Rupee figures need every input before a total exists, so they count only people who finished. Both are labelled.
Can I use this data?
Yes, CC BY 4.0, as JSON at /data/expectations.json and through the site MCP server. Cite it as self-reported expectations.