Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Russia

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 16.7% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 14.5% less in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 1.9% more in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 30.3% less in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 21.4% less in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 40.3% less in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 39.5% more in Saint Petersburg

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

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Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Istanbul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.5% less for restaurants

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$11.46 RUB947.27	-6.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$6.43 RUB531.63	-31.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.49 RUB123.24	-13.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.69 RUB56.64	+18.5%
Average			-14.5%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.9% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$0.93 RUB76.85	+1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$6.02 RUB497.41	+14.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$4.17 RUB344.70	-11.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$1.64 RUB135.56	-32.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$2.85 RUB235.33	+12.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$0.77 RUB63.36	-9.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.73 RUB60.03	-29.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$0.75 RUB62.16	+31.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.38 RUB114.37	+65.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.36 RUB29.64	+15.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.28 RUB23.17	-2.0%
Average			+1.9%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.3% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$3.25 RUB268.89	-40.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	-21.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$35,093.40 RUB3M	-30.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$7.60 RUB628.29	-9.5%
Average			-30.3%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.4% less for housing

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$8.55 RUB706.83	-47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	-26.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	-32.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	+62.7%
Average			-21.4%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 40.3% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	-46.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$17,234.08 RUB1M	-33.7%
Average			-40.3%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$2.63 RUB217.49	-44.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.03 RUB250.18	-29.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$2.92 RUB241.65	+25.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	-48.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$7.02 RUB579.96	-13.7%
Average			-30.8%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.5% more for clothing

	Istanbul	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	+73.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	+28.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	+34.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	+26.8%
Average			+39.5%

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg - 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 3.7 times bigger than Saint Petersburg.

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