Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 2.3 times more expensive than Istanbul.
San Mateo vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Istanbul, you would:
pay 73.2% more for restaurants
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$12.19
TRY603.79
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.35
TRY462.91
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.73
TRY85.71
|
$3.02
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.58
TRY28.65
|
$2.75
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 3.0 times more for groceries
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.92
TRY45.58
|
$5.88
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.28
TRY261.28
|
$6.80
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.69
TRY231.97
|
$6.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.41
TRY119.39
|
$7.39
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.54
TRY125.71
|
$8.50
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.85
TRY42.16
|
$2.73
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.03
TRY50.86
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.57
TRY28.34
|
$1.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.84
TRY41.37
|
$3.99
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.31
TRY15.36
|
$1.98
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.29
TRY14.17
|
$1.42
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 10.6% more for transportation
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.43
TRY269.03
|
$5.75
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$67.03
TRY3,318.85
|
$96.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$50,810.11
TRY3M
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$8.40
TRY416.09
|
$20.31
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 3.7 times more for housing
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$16.15
TRY799.42
|
$61.24
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$996.85
TRY49,357.64
|
$3,458.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$647.83
TRY32,076.47
|
$2,743.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$68.87
TRY3,410.06
|
$204.90
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 81.0% more for childcare
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,021.62
TRY50,584.39
|
$3,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,999.20
TRY1M
|
$29,000.00
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 85.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.78
TRY236.49
|
$8.25
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.31
TRY213.63
|
$5.66
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.34
TRY115.73
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$76.22
TRY3,773.70
|
$110.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$8.13
TRY402.53
|
$18.00
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 24.0% more for clothing
|
Istanbul
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.35
TRY2,641.33
|
$63.17
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.62
TRY1,961.62
|
$46.63
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.91
TRY4,947.03
|
$118.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$95.52
TRY4,729.71
|
$136.50
|
|
Istanbul vs. San Mateo - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Istanbul vs. San Mateo
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