Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

United States

Chapel Hill vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Chapel Hill is 61.0% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 45.4% more in Chapel Hill
Groceries: pay 2.9 times more in Chapel Hill
Transportation: pay 18.7% less in Chapel Hill
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Chapel Hill
Childcare: pay 27.4% less in Chapel Hill
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.7% more in Chapel Hill
Clothing: pay 3.7% less in Chapel Hill

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

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Chapel Hill vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chapel Hill instead of Istanbul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 45.4% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$18.00	+47.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$10.00	+7.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$2.90	+67.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$2.00	+245.6%
Average			+45.4%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$4.68	+408.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$9.04	+71.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.36	-6.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$5.44	+125.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$6.23	+145.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$3.60	+322.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.82	-20.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$3.10	+441.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$2.76	+230.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$2.18	+601.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$1.80	+529.9%
Average			+189.5%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.7% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$3.68	-32.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$35,535.00	-30.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$20.34	+142.1%
Average			-18.7%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$70.83	+338.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$1,766.67	+77.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$1,300.00	+100.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$168.71	+145.0%
Average			+104.6%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of housing

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pay 27.4% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$1,400.00	+37.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$10,000.00	-61.5%
Average			-27.4%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$6.00	+25.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$4.75	+10.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$7.95	+240.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$78.00	+2.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$13.50	+66.1%
Average			+37.7%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.7% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Chapel Hill
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$39.00	-26.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$31.25	-21.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$103.33	+3.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$137.50	+43.9%
Average			-3.7%

Istanbul vs. Chapel Hill - 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

Istanbul is about 95 times bigger than Chapel Hill.

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