Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

Turkey

Ankara vs. Sofia Cost of Living Summary

Ankara is 14.6% cheaper than Sofia.

Restaurants: pay 33.9% less in Ankara
Groceries: pay 32.0% less in Ankara
Transportation: pay 14.2% less in Ankara
Housing: pay 9.7% less in Ankara
Childcare: pay 46.4% more in Ankara
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.4% more in Ankara
Clothing: pay 11.0% less in Ankara

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

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Ankara vs. Sofia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ankara instead of Sofia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.9% less for restaurants

	Sofia	Ankara
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 BGN29.23	$10.16 TRY503.16	-39.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.61 BGN20.20	$9.65 TRY478.00	-16.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 BGN4.21	$1.72 TRY84.98	-29.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.80 BGN3.14	$0.74 TRY36.56	-59.0%
Average			-33.9%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.0% less for groceries

	Sofia	Ankara
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 BGN2.66	$0.98 TRY48.46	-35.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.70 BGN9.92	$5.14 TRY254.34	-9.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.46 BGN12.99	$4.51 TRY223.24	-39.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.37 BGN7.60	$2.70 TRY133.60	-38.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.92 BGN6.81	$2.48 TRY122.71	-36.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 BGN1.72	$0.89 TRY44.08	-10.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 BGN1.60	$1.01 TRY49.94	+9.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.86 BGN1.49	$0.59 TRY29.44	-30.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 BGN3.36	$0.78 TRY38.43	-59.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 BGN0.84	$0.29 TRY14.49	-39.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 BGN0.71	$0.26 TRY12.66	-37.1%
Average			-32.0%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.2% less for transportation

	Sofia	Ankara
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.58 BGN11.46	$5.38 TRY266.59	-18.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.55 BGN49.69	$12.19 TRY603.79	-57.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	$48,777.71 TRY2M	+61.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 BGN15.75	$7.82 TRY387.43	-13.5%
Average			-14.2%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.7% less for housing

	Sofia	Ankara
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.37 BGN26.74	$17.61 TRY871.98	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	$760.78 TRY37,669.21	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	$572.06 TRY28,324.97	-5.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.09 BGN210.73	$72.14 TRY3,572.03	-40.4%
Average			-9.7%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of housing

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pay 46.4% more for childcare

	Sofia	Ankara
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	$1,048.06 TRY51,893.40	+37.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	$19,763.76 TRY979K	+56.2%
Average			+46.4%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Sofia	Ankara
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 BGN5.98	$5.08 TRY251.58	+47.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.53 BGN6.15	$4.09 TRY202.61	+15.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.25 BGN7.40	$2.24 TRY110.70	-47.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.61 BGN81.12	$72.15 TRY3,572.44	+54.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.08 BGN17.54	$8.13 TRY402.53	-19.3%
Average			+10.4%

Sofia vs. Ankara - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.0% less for clothing

	Sofia	Ankara
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$89.18 BGN155.21	$53.73 TRY2,660.46	-39.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.94 BGN71.25	$48.06 TRY2,379.65	+17.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.72 BGN185.72	$105.21 TRY5,209.19	-1.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.41 BGN185.18	$95.84 TRY4,745.43	-9.9%
Average			-11.0%

Sofia vs. Ankara - 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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