Istanbul vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Istanbul	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1288	$1046
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3260	$2477
🏠 One person rent	$675	$343
🏘️ Family rent	$1155	$551
🍽️ Food expenses	$361	$571
🚐 Transport expenses	$138	$38.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$958	$218
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	95	1
😀 Quality of life	78	28
🏙️ Population	15.7M	65.5K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 23% more expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 4522nd and 5224th ($1288 vs $1046) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Turkey and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check Turkey vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Istanbul compared to 0.2 months in Sao Tome. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 1015th and 8852nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Istanbul vs Sao Tome infographic

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Prices in Istanbul vs Sao Tome

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

	Istanbul	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$29.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.2	$32.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.55	$11.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.98	$1.67
☕ Cappuccino	$3.9	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.5	$1.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$864	$315
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$552	$209
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1568	$581
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$944	$375
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.8	$40.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.6	$62.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	46.24%	7.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2833	$1452
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1376	$943
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$1.23
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.6	$47.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.88	$7.43
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.61	$1.06
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$5.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.22	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.17	$15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$25.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$4.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$3.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$2.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.55	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$9.26
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.22	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.1	$2.31
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.85	$4.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$3.08
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.87	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.68	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.9	$37.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.41	$21
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.5	$20.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.56	$4.09
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.3	$33.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$68
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1043	$130
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18637	$4068

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 Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$1044
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$660
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$708
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1241
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$1413
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$676
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$755
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$665
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1363
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$674
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$397
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$849
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1774
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$961
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$926
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$1051
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$878
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$671
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$632
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$563
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$793
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$698
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$664
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1102
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$644
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$585
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$743
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$793
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$642
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$778
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$752
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1013
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$705
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$536
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$835
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$664
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$706
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$536
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$536
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$598