Cost of living comparison

Albania

compared to

Turkey

Istanbul vs. Tirana Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 5.9% more expensive than Tirana.

Restaurants: pay 6.5% less in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 28.9% less in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 13.6% more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 18.6% more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.3% more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 18.9% less in Istanbul

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

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Istanbul vs. Tirana Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.5% less for restaurants

	Tirana	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 ALL794	$12.19 TRY603.79	+24.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.99 ALL893	$9.35 TRY462.91	-15.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.38 ALL193	$1.73 TRY85.71	-27.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 ALL103	$0.58 TRY28.65	-54.2%
Average			-6.5%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.9% less for groceries

	Tirana	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.18 ALL96	$0.92 TRY45.58	-21.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.45 ALL524	$5.28 TRY261.28	-18.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.47 ALL688	$4.69 TRY231.97	-44.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.77 ALL306	$2.41 TRY119.39	-36.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 ALL335	$2.54 TRY125.71	-38.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.89 ALL72	$0.85 TRY42.16	-4.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.12 ALL91	$1.03 TRY50.86	-8.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.98 ALL80	$0.57 TRY28.34	-41.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 ALL68	$0.84 TRY41.37	-0.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 ALL38	$0.31 TRY15.36	-33.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 ALL47	$0.29 TRY14.17	-50.5%
Average			-28.9%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.6% more for transportation

	Tirana	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.77 ALL712	$5.43 TRY269.03	-38.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 ALL1,587	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	+243.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,592.07 ALL3M	$50,810.11 TRY3M	+51.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.98 ALL2,678	$8.40 TRY416.09	-74.5%
Average			+13.6%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.6% more for housing

	Tirana	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.91 ALL1,617	$16.15 TRY799.42	-18.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$828.78 ALL67,311	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	+20.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$479.97 ALL38,982	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	+35.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$74.95 ALL6,088	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	-8.1%
Average			+18.6%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Tirana	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$344.43 ALL27,973	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	+196.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,249.97 ALL670K	$25,999.20 TRY1M	+215.1%
Average			+205.7%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Tirana	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.54 ALL288	$4.78 TRY236.49	+34.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.25 ALL183	$4.31 TRY213.63	+91.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.76 ALL387	$2.34 TRY115.73	-50.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.71 ALL4,525	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	+36.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.77 ALL794	$8.13 TRY402.53	-16.8%
Average			+16.3%

Tirana vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.9% less for clothing

	Tirana	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.87 ALL5,675	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	-23.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.44 ALL3,853	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	-16.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.26 ALL9,930	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	-18.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.33 ALL9,367	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	-17.2%
Average			-18.9%

Tirana 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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