Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 10.0% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 9.3% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 14.7% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 43.4% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 27.6% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 11.5% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 41.9% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.3% more for restaurants

	Moscow	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB996.18	$12.19 TRY600.23	+4.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB597.71	$9.35 TRY460.17	+33.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB137.76	$1.73 TRY85.20	+7.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB71.18	$0.58 TRY28.48	-30.8%
Average			+9.3%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.7% less for groceries

	Moscow	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB86.67	$0.92 TRY45.31	-9.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB607.83	$5.28 TRY259.74	-26.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB392.86	$4.69 TRY230.60	+1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB158.76	$2.41 TRY118.68	+29.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB254.08	$2.54 TRY124.97	-14.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB79.37	$0.85 TRY41.91	-8.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB69.29	$1.03 TRY50.56	+26.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB76.80	$0.57 TRY28.17	-36.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB152.11	$0.84 TRY41.13	-53.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB34.61	$0.31 TRY15.27	-23.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB27.55	$0.29 TRY14.08	-11.6%
Average			-14.7%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.4% more for transportation

	Moscow	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB282.00	$5.43 TRY267.44	+64.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,461.72	$67.03 TRY3,299.24	+64.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+30.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB856.71	$8.40 TRY413.64	-16.5%
Average			+43.4%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.6% less for housing

	Moscow	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB841.41	$16.15 TRY794.70	+63.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB124K	$996.85 TRY49,066.06	-31.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB68,502.01	$647.83 TRY31,886.99	-19.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB12,164.72	$68.87 TRY3,389.91	-51.8%
Average			-27.6%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 11.5% more for childcare

	Moscow	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB68,893.70	$1,021.62 TRY50,285.57	+26.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$25,999.20 TRY1M	-1.6%
Average			+11.5%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB398.47	$4.78 TRY235.09	+2.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB315.01	$4.31 TRY212.37	+16.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB293.87	$2.34 TRY115.04	-32.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,577.71	$76.22 TRY3,751.41	+81.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB796.94	$8.13 TRY400.15	-13.1%
Average			+11.6%

Moscow vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.9% less for clothing

	Moscow	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB9,236.82	$53.35 TRY2,625.73	-50.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,319.60	$39.62 TRY1,950.03	-36.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB12,373.98	$99.91 TRY4,917.81	-31.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB15,345.00	$95.52 TRY4,701.77	-47.0%
Average			-41.9%

Moscow 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

Compare further: Moscow vs. Istanbul

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Size Comparison · See true size

Moscow is about 2.1 times smaller than Istanbul.

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