Istanbul vs Phuket - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Istanbul	Phuket
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1305	$1059
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3329	$2644
🏠 One person rent	$689	$573
🏘️ Family rent	$1222	$1004
🍽️ Food expenses	$350	$352
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$34.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1095	$801
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	95	8
😀 Quality of life	78	56
🏙️ Population	15.7M	77.6K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 23% more expensive than in Phuket. Cities ranked 4562nd and 5233rd ($1305 vs $1059) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Turkey and Thailand, respectively. Check Turkey vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Istanbul compared to 0.8 months in Phuket. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs Phuket ranked 8th in Thailand, while ranked 925th and 6325th 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 Phuket

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

	Istanbul	Phuket
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$6.74
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.5	$47.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.13	$9.77
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.11	$2.26
☕ Cappuccino	$3.92	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.63	$0.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$896	$632
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$561	$446
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1645	$1154
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1007	$805
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.4	$70.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.1	$109
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.7	$19.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	43.72%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3111	$4350
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1596	$3066
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.79	$1.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$54.8	$23.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$10.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$2.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.68	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.77
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.46	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$18.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.91	$3.44
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.57	$1.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.52	$1.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$20.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.18	$1.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.19	$4.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.32	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.23	$2.5
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.1	$1.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.29	$1.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$62.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.96	$8.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$57.5	$30.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.88	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$54.7	$68
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$99.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1021	$652
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20004	$16566

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 Phuket

Distance	City	Cost of living
48 km or 30 mi	Ao Nang	$808
60 km or 38 mi	Krabi	$891
76 km or 47 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
173 km or 107 mi	Surat Thani	$612
183 km or 114 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
185 km or 115 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
231 km or 143 mi	Langkawi	$634
248 km or 154 mi	Hat Yai	$622
248 km or 154 mi	Ko Samui	$782
256 km or 159 mi	Kangar	$628
269 km or 167 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
289 km or 180 mi	Ko Tao	$845
293 km or 182 mi	Alor Setar	$564
331 km or 206 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
339 km or 211 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
348 km or 216 mi	George Town	$792
352 km or 219 mi	Butterworth	$740
384 km or 238 mi	Langsa	$451
425 km or 264 mi	Taiping	$572
428 km or 266 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
468 km or 291 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
470 km or 292 mi	Ipoh	$696
470 km or 292 mi	Medan	$461
477 km or 296 mi	Binjai	$458
507 km or 315 mi	Myeik	$562
514 km or 319 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
517 km or 321 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
548 km or 340 mi	Hua Hin	$784
553 km or 344 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
569 km or 353 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
596 km or 370 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572
625 km or 388 mi	Nong Prue	$846
625 km or 389 mi	Pattaya	$874
637 km or 396 mi	Klang	$762
637 km or 396 mi	Shah Alam	$750
638 km or 396 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
638 km or 396 mi	Ko Chang	$763
639 km or 397 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
641 km or 398 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
641 km or 398 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981