Istanbul vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1305	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3329	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$689	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$1222	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$350	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1095	$1761
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	95	73
😀 Quality of life	78	65
🏙️ Population	15.7M	4.8M

The cost of living in Istanbul is 11% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 4562nd and 4839th ($1305 vs $1171) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Turkey and South Africa, respectively. Check Turkey vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Istanbul compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 925th and 5190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Istanbul vs Johannesburg

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

	Istanbul	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.5	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.13	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.11	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$3.92	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.63	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$896	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$561	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1645	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1007	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.4	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.1	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.7	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	43.72%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3111	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1596	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.79	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$54.8	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.68	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.46	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.91	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.52	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.18	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.19	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.32	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.23	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.1	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.29	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.96	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$57.5	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.88	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$54.7	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1021	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20004	$5808

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950