Cost of living comparison

compared to

Istanbul vs. Princeton Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 51.0% cheaper than Princeton.

Restaurants
pay 43.2% less in Istanbul
Groceries
pay 61.0% less in Istanbul
Transportation
pay 13.0% less in Istanbul
Housing
pay 65.1% less in Istanbul
Childcare
pay 41.7% less in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports
pay 48.1% less in Istanbul

Expenses including housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, childcare, and transportation are lower in Istanbul.

Istanbul vs. Princeton Cost Breakdown

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

pay 43.2% less for restaurants

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $20.00
 
$12.19
TRY608.91
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$15.00
 
$9.35
TRY466.83
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.50
 
$1.73
TRY86.44

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pay 61.0% less for groceries

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Bread
1 loaf
$3.67
 
$0.92
TRY45.97
Local cheese (8 oz) $12.68
 
$5.28
TRY263.50
Milk (1 gallon) $4.02
 
$4.69
TRY233.94

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pay 13.0% less for transportation

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.58
 
$5.43
TRY271.32
Monthly public transit pass $199.00
 
$67.03
TRY3,347.00
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,651.00
 
$50,810.11
TRY3M

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pay 65.1% less for housing

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$55.75
 
$16.15
TRY806.20
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,882.50
 
$996.85
TRY49,776.31
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,925.00
 
$647.83
TRY32,348.56

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pay 41.7% less for childcare

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,956.48
 
$1,021.62
TRY51,013.47
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $40,000.00
 
$25,999.20
TRY1M

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pay 48.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.00
 
$4.78
TRY238.49
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.20
 
$4.31
TRY215.45
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$11.41
 
$2.34
TRY116.71

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pay about the same for clothing

 
Princeton
Istanbul
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$38.50
 
$53.35
TRY2,663.74
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$55.00
 
$39.62
TRY1,978.26
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$81.67
 
$99.91
TRY4,989.00

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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