Cost of living comparison

Tehran, Iran

compared to

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul vs. Tehran Cost of Living Summary

Istanbul is 2.7 times more expensive than Tehran.

Restaurants: pay 90.0% more in Istanbul
Groceries: pay 51.6% more in Istanbul
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Istanbul
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Istanbul
Childcare: pay 7.1 times more in Istanbul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1 times more in Istanbul
Clothing: pay 26.0% more in Istanbul

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Istanbul are more expensive than in Tehran. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Istanbul.

Istanbul vs. Tehran Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Istanbul instead of Tehran, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 90.0% more for restaurants

	Tehran	Istanbul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 IRR169,000	$10.27 TRY402.39	+156.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.00 IRR211,250	$7.42 TRY290.68	+48.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 IRR19,178	$1.41 TRY55.16	+210.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 IRR45,839	$0.49 TRY19.15	-55.0%
Average			+90.0%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 51.6% more for groceries

	Tehran	Istanbul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.53 IRR22,602	$0.89 TRY34.94	+66.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.83 IRR77,272	$4.98 TRY195.13	+172.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.32 IRR98,152	$4.06 TRY159.16	+74.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.26 IRR53,272	$1.89 TRY74.26	+50.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.84 IRR77,906	$2.76 TRY108.30	+49.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.46 IRR19,293	$0.55 TRY21.47	+20.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 IRR29,604	$0.99 TRY38.65	+40.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.42 IRR17,831	$0.50 TRY19.57	+18.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 IRR13,390	$0.53 TRY20.74	+67.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 IRR10,238	$0.28 TRY10.97	+15.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.26 IRR11,130	$0.24 TRY9.59	-7.1%
Average			+51.6%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Tehran	Istanbul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.76 IRR116,458	$4.75 TRY186.06	+72.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 IRR422,500	$40.72 TRY1,595.88	+307.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$90,000.00 IRR3,802,500,000	$43,623.86 TRY1,709,872.36	-51.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.90 IRR122,525	$5.53 TRY216.58	+90.5%
Average			+104.6%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Tehran	Istanbul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$6.79 IRR286,962	$12.92 TRY506.41	+90.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$489.72 IRR20,690,640	$917.53 TRY35,963.31	+87.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$339.71 IRR14,352,610	$560.36 TRY21,963.57	+65.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$11.89 IRR502,342	$45.19 TRY1,771.37	+280.1%
Average			+130.7%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of housing

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pay 7.1 times more for childcare

	Tehran	Istanbul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$123.20 IRR5,205,200	$680.19 TRY26,660.64	+452.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,753.32 IRR74,077,693	$15,170.99 TRY594,639.00	+765.3%
Average			+608.7%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Tehran	Istanbul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 IRR33,800	$4.00 TRY156.74	+399.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.51 IRR63,638	$3.39 TRY133.00	+125.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.50 IRR105,625	$2.18 TRY85.49	-12.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$19.23 IRR812,478	$51.04 TRY2,000.74	+165.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.50 IRR63,375	$7.27 TRY284.98	+384.7%
Average			+212.5%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.0% more for clothing

	Tehran	Istanbul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$36.21 IRR1,529,668	$56.75 TRY2,224.29	+56.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.96 IRR1,181,502	$41.70 TRY1,634.37	+49.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$138.01 IRR5,830,759	$100.70 TRY3,946.84	-27.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.09 IRR2,961,404	$87.67 TRY3,436.15	+25.1%
Average			+26.0%

Tehran vs. Istanbul - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: May 2025

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