Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 20.0% more expensive than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 16.9% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 1.9% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 43.5% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 27.2% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 67.5% more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.5% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 28.3% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Saint Petersburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.9% more for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.46 RUB976.26	$12.19 TRY600.23	+6.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.43 RUB547.90	$9.35 TRY460.17	+45.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 RUB127.01	$1.73 TRY85.20	+16.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 RUB58.37	$0.58 TRY28.48	-15.6%
Average			+16.9%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.9% less for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 RUB79.20	$0.92 TRY45.31	-1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 RUB512.63	$5.28 TRY259.74	-12.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.17 RUB355.25	$4.69 TRY230.60	+12.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 RUB139.71	$2.41 TRY118.68	+47.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 RUB242.54	$2.54 TRY124.97	-10.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB65.29	$0.85 TRY41.91	+11.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 RUB61.87	$1.03 TRY50.56	+41.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RUB64.06	$0.57 TRY28.17	-23.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 RUB117.87	$0.84 TRY41.13	-39.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RUB30.55	$0.31 TRY15.27	-13.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB23.88	$0.29 TRY14.08	+2.1%
Average			-1.9%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.5% more for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.25 RUB277.12	$5.43 TRY267.44	+67.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.51 RUB4,471.85	$67.03 TRY3,299.24	+27.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,093.40 RUB3M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+44.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.60 RUB647.52	$8.40 TRY413.64	+10.5%
Average			+43.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.2% more for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.55 RUB728.46	$16.15 TRY794.70	+88.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$730.46 RUB62,205.90	$996.85 TRY49,066.06	+36.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$437.21 RUB37,232.22	$647.83 TRY31,886.99	+48.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.08 RUB9,544.76	$68.87 TRY3,389.91	-38.6%
Average			+27.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 67.5% more for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$549.43 RUB46,789.24	$1,021.62 TRY50,285.57	+85.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,234.08 RUB1M	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+50.9%
Average			+67.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 RUB224.14	$4.78 TRY235.09	+81.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 RUB257.83	$4.31 TRY212.37	+42.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.92 RUB249.04	$2.34 TRY115.04	-20.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.61 RUB3,373.30	$76.22 TRY3,751.41	+92.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.02 RUB597.71	$8.13 TRY400.15	+15.8%
Average			+44.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.3% less for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.36 RUB7,865.29	$53.35 TRY2,625.73	-42.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.79 RUB4,325.52	$39.62 TRY1,950.03	-22.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.52 RUB11,456.07	$99.91 TRY4,917.81	-25.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.11 RUB10,313.39	$95.52 TRY4,701.77	-21.1%
Average			-28.3%

Saint Petersburg 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

Saint Petersburg is about 3.7 times smaller than Istanbul.

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