Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 0.2% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 8.9% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 40.3% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 75.8% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 2.0% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.7% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 19.4% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.9% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$12.19 TRY603.79	+9.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.07 MX$204.73	$9.35 TRY462.91	-15.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MX$30.14	$1.73 TRY85.71	+6.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$24.06	$0.58 TRY28.65	-55.5%
Average			-8.9%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.3% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03 MX$56.07	$0.92 TRY45.58	-69.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 MX$111.38	$5.28 TRY261.28	-12.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.73 MX$124.42	$4.69 TRY231.97	-30.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.87 MX$53.00	$2.41 TRY119.39	-15.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39 MX$81.13	$2.54 TRY125.71	-42.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 MX$26.42	$0.85 TRY42.16	-40.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$1.03 TRY50.86	+14.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.19	$0.57 TRY28.34	-38.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$0.84 TRY41.37	-19.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.90	$0.31 TRY15.36	-66.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.71	$0.29 TRY14.17	-66.3%
Average			-40.3%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.8% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.76 MX$106.56	$5.43 TRY269.03	-5.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.03 MX$370.37	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+234.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+136.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.54 MX$120.88	$8.40 TRY416.09	+28.6%
Average			+75.8%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0% less for housing

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 MX$640.87	$16.15 TRY799.42	-53.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	-5.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	-3.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.71 MX$882.34	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	+44.3%
Average			-2.0%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+134.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,045.70 MX$223K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+115.8%
Average			+124.9%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.34 MX$61.73	$4.78 TRY236.49	+43.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$70.36	$4.31 TRY213.63	+13.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 MX$97.74	$2.34 TRY115.73	-55.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+33.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 MX$123.46	$8.13 TRY402.53	+21.8%
Average			+14.7%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-24.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.64 MX$991.98	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-26.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-8.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-17.6%
Average			-19.4%

Mexico City vs. Istanbul - 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

Mexico City is about 3.6 times smaller than Istanbul.

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