Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

South Korea

Incheon vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Incheon is 9.0% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 35.7% less in Incheon
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Incheon
Transportation: pay 34.6% less in Incheon
Housing: pay 26.3% less in Incheon
Childcare: pay 55.2% less in Incheon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.1% less in Incheon
Clothing: pay 14.2% less in Incheon

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Incheon. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Incheon.

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Incheon vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 35.7% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Incheon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY611.44	$5.99 ₩8,167	-50.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY468.77	$6.72 ₩9,161	-28.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY86.80	$1.57 ₩2,138	-9.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY29.01	$0.60 ₩823	+4.3%
Average			-35.7%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	Incheon
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY46.16	$3.10 ₩4,224	+236.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY264.59	$7.84 ₩10,688	+48.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY234.91	$7.79 ₩10,629	+66.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY120.90	$3.29 ₩4,484	+36.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY127.30	$3.55 ₩4,848	+40.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.69	$3.44 ₩4,694	+304.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY51.51	$1.47 ₩2,001	+42.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.70	$2.59 ₩3,537	+353.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.89	$2.83 ₩3,864	+239.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.56	$1.58 ₩2,155	+409.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.35	$1.10 ₩1,501	+284.5%
Average			+153.3%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.6% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Incheon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY272.44	$5.21 ₩7,111	-4.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,360.91	$24.95 ₩34,029	-62.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$29,385.60 ₩40M	-42.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY421.37	$8.51 ₩11,604	+1.3%
Average			-34.6%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.3% less for housing

	Istanbul	Incheon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY809.55	$20.82 ₩28,392	+28.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,983.16	$600.24 ₩819K	-39.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,482.99	$353.39 ₩482K	-45.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,453.27	$160.90 ₩219K	+133.6%
Average			-26.3%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of housing

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pay 55.2% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Incheon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY51,225.46	$299.42 ₩408K	-70.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$17,766.42 ₩24M	-31.7%
Average			-55.2%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Incheon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY239.48	$3.46 ₩4,723	-27.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY216.34	$3.66 ₩4,988	-15.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY117.19	$3.36 ₩4,581	+43.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,821.53	$33.42 ₩45,582	-56.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY407.63	$11.20 ₩15,269	+37.7%
Average			-17.1%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.2% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Incheon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,674.81	$57.88 ₩78,937	+8.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,986.48	$32.77 ₩44,695	-17.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY5,009.73	$69.99 ₩95,451	-29.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,789.65	$82.45 ₩112K	-13.7%
Average			-14.2%

Istanbul vs. Incheon - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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