Istanbul vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Istanbul	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1288	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3260	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$675	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$1155	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$361	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$138	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$958	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	95	82
😀 Quality of life	78	90
🏙️ Population	15.7M	468K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 45% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 4522nd and 1213th ($1288 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1060th in Turkey and the United States, respectively. Check Turkey vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Istanbul compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 1015th and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Istanbul vs Raleigh infographic

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

Prices in Istanbul vs Raleigh

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

	Istanbul	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.2	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.55	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.98	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$3.9	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.5	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$864	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$552	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1568	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$944	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.8	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.6	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	46.24%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2833	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1376	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.6	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.88	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.61	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.22	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.17	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.55	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.22	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.1	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.85	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.87	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.68	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.9	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.41	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.5	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.56	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.3	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1043	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18637	$24117

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	$679
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$659
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$819
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$835
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$838
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$985
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$725
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$915
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$852
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$679
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$724
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$787
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$562
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$547
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$686
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$837
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$691
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$574
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$704
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$695
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$777
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$821
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$612
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$848
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$713
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1151
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$655
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$732
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$697
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1039
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1006
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$618
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$699
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$664
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$591
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$725
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$745
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$760
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1067
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1013

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766