Cape Town vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cape Town	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1366	$1305
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3099	$3329
🏠 One person rent	$773	$689
🏘️ Family rent	$1343	$1222
🍽️ Food expenses	$355	$350
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$152
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$404	$1095
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	55	95
😀 Quality of life	55	78
🏙️ Population	3.78M	15.7M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 5% more expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 4432nd and 4562nd ($1366 vs $1305) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 0.3 months in Cape Town compared to 0.8 months in Istanbul. Cape Town ranked 4th best city to live in South Africa vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 6382nd and 925th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$12.5	$10.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.7	$43.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.71	$9.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.13	$4.11
☕ Cappuccino	$2.42	$3.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.39	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$874	$896
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$594	$561
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1556	$1645
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1079	$1007
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.1	$47.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$73.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39	$13.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.25%	43.72%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2160	$3111
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1500	$1596
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.16	$0.79
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.7	$54.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.46	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.35	$1.12
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$0.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.91	$2.46
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$10.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.21	$6.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.46	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$0.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$0.52
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.59	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$2.18
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.44	$2.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.94	$3.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.02	$3.23
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$2.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$57.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.6	$7.96
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.1	$57.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$8.88
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.9	$54.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$264	$1021
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5378	$20004

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	$1345
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$718
371 km or 231 mi	George	$927
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$980
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$1036
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$811
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$874
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$1050
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$927
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1419
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$795
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$630
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$681
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$952
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$826
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$986
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$875
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$901
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$934
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$697
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$694
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$765
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$1057
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$731
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$662
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$1171
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$958
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$1023
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$1089
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$948
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$968
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$905

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$671
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$652
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$817
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$867
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$828
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$945
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$733
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$894
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$836
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$691
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$731
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$769
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$590
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$543
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$681
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$806
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$688
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$552
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$746
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$662
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$748
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$819
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$601
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$872
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$711
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1137
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$705
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$752
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$712
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1099
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1029
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$644
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$698
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$626
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$607
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$742
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$767
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1079
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1041