Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Mexico

Tijuana vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Tijuana is 13.4% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 8.5% more in Tijuana
Groceries: pay 47.2% more in Tijuana
Transportation: pay 29.0% less in Tijuana
Housing: pay 19.8% less in Tijuana
Childcare: pay 80.8% less in Tijuana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.6% less in Tijuana
Clothing: pay 1.8% less in Tijuana

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

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Tijuana vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 8.5% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY606.11	$12.26 MX$228.85	+0.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY464.68	$10.01 MX$186.94	+7.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY86.04	$1.41 MX$26.38	-18.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.76	$1.23 MX$23.02	+113.1%
Average			+8.5%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.2% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.76	$2.93 MX$54.73	+218.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY262.29	$4.20 MX$78.38	-20.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY232.86	$6.91 MX$128.95	+47.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.84	$3.25 MX$60.74	+34.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY126.19	$3.39 MX$63.20	+33.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.32	$1.33 MX$24.77	+55.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY51.06	$0.75 MX$13.99	-27.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.45	$0.89 MX$16.53	+54.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.53	$0.74 MX$13.80	-11.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.42	$0.71 MX$13.17	+127.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.22	$0.85 MX$15.85	+196.7%
Average			+47.2%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.0% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY270.07	$5.69 MX$106.28	+4.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,331.58	$31.15 MX$581.59	-53.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$21,528.95 MX$402K	-57.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY417.69	$20.72 MX$386.86	+146.6%
Average			-29.0%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.8% less for housing

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY802.49	$30.18 MX$563.42	+86.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,547.03	$884.20 MX$16,506.64	-11.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,199.56	$492.22 MX$9,188.98	-24.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,423.14	$36.69 MX$684.99	-46.7%
Average			-19.8%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of housing

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pay 80.8% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,778.49	$208.62 MX$3,894.59	-79.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$4,673.07 MX$87,238.74	-82.0%
Average			-80.8%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY237.39	$3.34 MX$62.31	-30.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY214.45	$4.33 MX$80.79	+0.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY116.17	$4.45 MX$83.08	+90.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,788.18	$41.03 MX$765.94	-46.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY404.07	$6.81 MX$127.22	-16.2%
Average			-18.6%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.8% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Tijuana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,651.47	$54.52 MX$1,017.79	+2.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,969.15	$46.59 MX$869.79	+17.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,966.02	$104.31 MX$1,947.29	+4.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,747.86	$70.65 MX$1,318.97	-26.0%
Average			-1.8%

Istanbul vs. Tijuana - 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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