Cape Town vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$1248
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$3224
🏠 One person rent	$582	$649
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$1199
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$354
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$883
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	56	95
😀 Quality of life	58	76
🏙️ Population	3.78M	15.7M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 14% less expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 5016th and 4347th ($1071 vs $1248) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Turkey, respectively. Check South Africa vs Turkey comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 0.7 months in Istanbul. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 5491st and 850th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Istanbul infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/cape-town/istanbul.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cape Town vs Istanbul infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cape-town/istanbul" target="_blank">Cape Town vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cape Town vs Istanbul

Prices for goods and services in Cape Town and Istanbul are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cape Town	Istanbul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$11
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$49.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$8.29
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$4.14
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$3.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$1.38
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$853
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$529
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$1671
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$985
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$63.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$13.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	47.81%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$3233
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$1719
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$42.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$5.79
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$0.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$2.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.36
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$9.72
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$6.14
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$19.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$2.13
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$0.61
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$0.61
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.49
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$11.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$2.18
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$2.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.23
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$2.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$54.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$6.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$78.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$8.76
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$58.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$815
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$17728

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$599
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$573
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$782
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$718
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$835
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$1113
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$701
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$743
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$872
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$690
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$679
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$708
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$661
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$455
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$547
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$755
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$661
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$642
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$707
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$535
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$691
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$568
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$721
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$626
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$624
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$616
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$679
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$690
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$892
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$911
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$546
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$629
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$464
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$631
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$677
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$638
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$934
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$899