Cost of living comparison

Italy

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 21.6% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 29.9% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 41.5% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 1.7% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 29.8% less in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 79.8% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9% less in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 6.7% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.9% less for restaurants

	Rome	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$12.19 TRY603.79	-27.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$9.35 TRY462.91	-16.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.96 €2.63	$1.73 TRY85.71	-41.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.48 €1.32	$0.58 TRY28.65	-60.9%
Average			-29.9%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.5% less for groceries

	Rome	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 €1.98	$0.92 TRY45.58	-58.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.42 €6.61	$5.28 TRY261.28	-28.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 €5.77	$4.69 TRY231.97	-27.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.66 €4.15	$2.41 TRY119.39	-48.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.66 €5.03	$2.54 TRY125.71	-55.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.04	$0.85 TRY42.16	-27.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.94	$1.03 TRY50.86	-2.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.97	$0.57 TRY28.34	-47.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.96	$0.84 TRY41.37	-22.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$0.31 TRY15.36	-51.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 €0.64	$0.29 TRY14.17	-60.1%
Average			-41.5%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.7% more for transportation

	Rome	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.04 €7.16	$5.43 TRY269.03	-32.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.19 €34.88	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+71.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,551.60 €31,642.21	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+42.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.16 €17.94	$8.40 TRY416.09	-58.3%
Average			+1.7%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.8% less for housing

	Rome	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.87 €28.36	$16.15 TRY799.42	-49.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,208.81 €1,075.88	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	-17.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$873.39 €777.35	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	-25.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.13 €139.85	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-56.2%
Average			-29.8%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 79.8% more for childcare

	Rome	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$487.21 €433.63	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+109.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,862.20 €15,007.96	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+54.2%
Average			+79.8%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$4.78 TRY236.49	-14.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 €1.84	$4.31 TRY213.63	+108.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.28 €6.48	$2.34 TRY115.73	-67.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.43 €58.24	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+16.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$8.13 TRY402.53	-27.4%
Average			-3.9%

Rome vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.7% less for clothing

	Rome	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.31 €63.47	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-25.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.31 €32.32	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	+9.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.63 €74.43	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	+19.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.17 €109.63	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-22.4%
Average			-6.7%

Rome 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

Rome is about 4.2 times smaller than Istanbul.

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