Cost of living comparison

compared to

Istanbul vs. Monroe Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 16.3% cheaper than Monroe.

Restaurants
pay 28.0% less in Istanbul
Groceries
pay 45.2% less in Istanbul
Transportation
pay 28.8% more in Istanbul
Housing
pay 22.4% less in Istanbul
Childcare
pay 32.3% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports
pay 0.6% less in Istanbul
Clothing
pay 20.9% more in Istanbul

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

Istanbul vs. Monroe Cost Breakdown

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

pay 28.0% less for restaurants

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.00
 
$12.19
TRY611.44
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$9.35
TRY468.77
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.00
 
$1.73
TRY86.80

Improve prices ·

pay 45.2% less for groceries

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Bread
1 loaf
$2.75
 
$0.92
TRY46.16
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.41
 
$5.28
TRY264.59
Milk (1 gallon) $4.08
 
$4.69
TRY234.91

Improve prices ·

pay 28.8% more for transportation

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.57
 
$5.43
TRY272.44
Monthly public transit pass ?? $67.03
TRY3,360.91
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,736.00
 
$50,810.11
TRY3M

Improve prices ·

pay 22.4% less for housing

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$62.50
 
$16.15
TRY809.55
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $989.67
 
$996.85
TRY49,983.16
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $814.00
 
$647.83
TRY32,482.99

Improve prices ·

pay 32.3% more for childcare

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $800.00
 
$1,021.62
TRY51,225.46
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $18,980.00
 
$25,999.20
TRY1M

Improve prices ·

pay 0.6% less for entertainment and sports

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.00
 
$4.78
TRY239.48
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.00
 
$4.31
TRY216.34
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.75
 
$2.34
TRY117.19

Improve prices ·

pay 20.9% more for clothing

 
Monroe
Istanbul
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$40.00
 
$53.35
TRY2,674.81
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$38.75
 
$39.62
TRY1,986.48
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$62.50
 
$99.91
TRY5,009.73

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United States vs. Turkey. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Turkey.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Istanbul or Monroe. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.