Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Turkmenistan Cost of Living Summary
California is 30.4% more expensive than Turkmenistan overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 0.4% more in California
- Groceries
-
pay 18.4% less in California
- Transportation
-
pay 2.5 times more in California
- Housing
-
pay 41.1% more in California
- Childcare
-
pay 9.5 times more in California
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 18.7% less in California
- Clothing
-
pay 48.7% less in California
The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, and restaurants in California are more expensive than in Turkmenistan. Expenses including clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in California. Notably, childcare and transportation are significantly more expensive in California.
California vs. Turkmenistan Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Turkmenistan, you would:
pay 0.4% more for restaurants
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$31.43
TMT110.31
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.86
TMT45.13
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.57
TMT5.52
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.86
TMT3.01
|
$2.26
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 18.4% less for groceries
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.04
TMT7.15
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$18.82
TMT66.06
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$17.09
TMT59.98
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.00
TMT21.06
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$9.07
TMT31.84
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.30
TMT8.07
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$3.84
TMT13.49
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.40
TMT11.94
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.67
TMT5.87
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.04
TMT3.64
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.65
TMT2.27
|
$1.39
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 2.5 times more for transportation
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$1.62
TMT5.69
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$10.00
TMT35.10
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$43,928.57
TMT154K
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$9.71
TMT34.10
|
$20.97
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 41.1% more for housing
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$102.86
TMT361.03
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,414.29
TMT4,964.14
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,000.00
TMT3,510.00
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$436.97
TMT1,533.78
|
$172.98
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 9.5 times more for childcare
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$22.86
TMT80.23
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,807.14
TMT87,073.07
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 18.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.71
TMT20.06
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.79
TMT23.82
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$25.71
TMT90.26
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$195.24
TMT685.29
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$8.57
TMT30.09
|
$15.07
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 48.7% less for clothing
|
Turkmenistan
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.71
TMT195.56
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$114.29
TMT401.14
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$364.29
TMT1,278.64
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$192.86
TMT676.93
|
$130.37
|
|
Turkmenistan vs. California - Cost of clothing
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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