Cost of living comparison

Hungary

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 4.9% cheaper than Budapest.

Restaurants: pay 19.6% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 26.7% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 27.5% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 2.7% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 71.8% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 23.1% less in Istanbul

The cost of childcare and transportation in Istanbul are more expensive than in Budapest. Expenses including groceries, clothing, restaurants, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Istanbul.

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Istanbul vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Budapest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.6% less for restaurants

	Budapest	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	$12.19 TRY603.79	-11.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	$9.35 TRY462.91	-8.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.08 HUF673.49	$1.73 TRY85.71	-16.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 HUF591.19	$0.58 TRY28.65	-68.4%
Average			-19.6%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.7% less for groceries

	Budapest	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.80 HUF580.67	$0.92 TRY45.58	-48.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	$5.28 TRY261.28	-5.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	$4.69 TRY231.97	+6.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	$2.41 TRY119.39	-37.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	$2.54 TRY125.71	-18.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 HUF274.62	$0.85 TRY42.16	+0.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 HUF303.05	$1.03 TRY50.86	+9.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 HUF341.51	$0.57 TRY28.34	-45.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 HUF558.38	$0.84 TRY41.37	-51.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 HUF144.57	$0.31 TRY15.36	-30.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 HUF147.52	$0.29 TRY14.17	-37.3%
Average			-26.7%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.5% more for transportation

	Budapest	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	$5.43 TRY269.03	-23.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+143.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,374.56 HUF9M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+73.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	$8.40 TRY416.09	-40.6%
Average			+27.5%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7% less for housing

	Budapest	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	$16.15 TRY799.42	-31.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$817.66 HUF264K	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+21.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.44 HUF204K	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+2.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-48.1%
Average			-2.7%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 71.8% more for childcare

	Budapest	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$539.65 HUF174K	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+89.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,674.34 HUF5M	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+55.9%
Average			+71.8%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Budapest	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	$4.78 TRY236.49	+30.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	$4.31 TRY213.63	+29.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	$2.34 TRY115.73	-70.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+13.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	$8.13 TRY402.53	-12.9%
Average			-2.1%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.1% less for clothing

	Budapest	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-46.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-7.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-11.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-19.2%
Average			-23.1%

Budapest vs. Istanbul - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Budapest is about 10 times smaller than Istanbul.

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