Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 11.9% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 18.0% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 11.0% more in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 32.5% less in Bucharest
Housing: pay 19.1% less in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 41.7% less in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.6% less in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 4.8% more in Bucharest

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

Planning a move to Romania? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Bucharest vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.0% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$14.64 RON69.25	+20.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$7.32 RON34.63	-21.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$2.42 RON11.44	+39.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$2.25 RON10.65	+289.2%
Average			+18.0%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.0% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$1.32 RON6.24	+43.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$4.36 RON20.63	-17.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$6.22 RON29.40	+32.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$3.67 RON17.35	+52.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.05 RON14.45	+20.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.57 RON2.70	-32.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.72 RON3.43	-29.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.69 RON3.25	+20.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.15 RON5.42	+37.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.36 RON1.73	+17.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.34 RON1.62	+19.7%
Average			+11.0%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.5% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$7.45 RON35.25	+37.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$20.91 RON98.93	-68.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$28,531.98 RON135K	-43.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$5.65 RON26.71	-32.8%
Average			-32.5%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.1% less for housing

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$9.27 RON43.83	-42.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$677.15 RON3,203.34	-32.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$451.32 RON2,135.02	-30.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$147.83 RON699.33	+114.6%
Average			-19.1%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.7% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$627.11 RON2,966.59	-38.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	-44.7%
Average			-41.7%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.76 RON17.81	-21.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.51 RON16.59	-18.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$6.43 RON30.42	+175.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$49.22 RON232.83	-35.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$8.37 RON39.57	+2.9%
Average			-8.6%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.8% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$88.76 RON419.90	+66.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$38.43 RON181.80	-3.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$77.83 RON368.20	-22.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$91.69 RON433.74	-4.0%
Average			+4.8%

Istanbul vs. Bucharest - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Istanbul vs. Bucharest

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Bucharest?

Size Comparison · See true size

Istanbul is about 24 times bigger than Bucharest.

More cost comparisons

Istanbul vs.

Canberra

Istanbul vs.

Vienna

Istanbul vs.

Moscow

Istanbul vs.

Quito

Istanbul vs.

Lima

Istanbul vs.

Madrid

Istanbul vs.

Bangkok

Istanbul vs.

Athens

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Turkey vs. Romania. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Turkey and Romania.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Istanbul

Add prices for Bucharest

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Bucharest or Istanbul. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.