Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Harlow Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 24.6% cheaper than Harlow.

Restaurants: pay 36.0% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 8.5% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 10.4% less in Istanbul
Housing: pay 44.1% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 12.6% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.9% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 32.8% more in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Harlow Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 36.0% less for restaurants

	Harlow	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.08 £15.76	$12.19 TRY606.11	-42.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.57 £7.90	$9.35 TRY464.68	-11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67 £2.00	$1.73 TRY86.04	-35.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.81 £1.35	$0.58 TRY28.76	-68.0%
Average			-36.0%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.5% less for groceries

	Harlow	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 £1.01	$0.92 TRY45.76	-32.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 £2.47	$5.28 TRY262.29	+60.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 £3.74	$4.69 TRY232.86	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.30 £1.72	$2.41 TRY119.84	+4.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.75 £2.06	$2.54 TRY126.19	-7.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 £0.67	$0.85 TRY42.32	-5.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.54 £0.40	$1.03 TRY51.06	+90.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.51 £0.38	$0.57 TRY28.45	+12.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 £0.67	$0.84 TRY41.53	-7.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 £0.55	$0.31 TRY15.42	-58.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 £0.44	$0.29 TRY14.22	-51.8%
Average			-8.5%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.4% less for transportation

	Harlow	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.05 £5.27	$5.43 TRY270.07	-23.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$67.03 TRY3,331.58
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,561.84 £28,084.69	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+35.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.08 £14.27	$8.40 TRY417.69	-56.0%
Average			-10.4%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.1% less for housing

	Harlow	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$28.08 £21.00	$16.15 TRY802.49	-42.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,387.51 £1,037.43	$996.85 TRY49,547.03	-28.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,321.44 £988.03	$647.83 TRY32,199.56	-51.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$171.28 £128.07	$68.87 TRY3,423.14	-59.8%
Average			-44.1%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 12.6% more for childcare

	Harlow	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,057.15 £790.42	$1,021.62 TRY50,778.49	-3.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,821.55 £14,820.42	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+31.2%
Average			+12.6%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Harlow	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.90 £5.16	$4.78 TRY237.39	-30.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.57 £4.17	$4.31 TRY214.45	-22.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$20.97 £15.68	$2.34 TRY116.17	-88.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.25 £34.58	$76.22 TRY3,788.18	+64.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.55 £9.38	$8.13 TRY404.07	-35.2%
Average			-27.9%

Harlow vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.8% more for clothing

	Harlow	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.38 £51.87	$53.35 TRY2,651.47	-23.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.38 £23.47	$39.62 TRY1,969.15	+26.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.63 £58.05	$99.91 TRY4,966.02	+28.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$38.32 £28.65	$95.52 TRY4,747.86	+149.3%
Average			+32.8%

Harlow 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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