City comparison
Cost of living in Bucharest vs Istanbul
One person needs about €1,095 a month in Bucharest and €963 in Istanbul, rent included — Istanbul is 12% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Istanbul the way you live in Bucharest on €3,000, you need
€2,638/ month net
12% less than today (-€362)
- Bucharest today
- Basket €1,095 · left over €1,905 (64%)
- Istanbul at the matched salary
- Basket €963 · left over €1,675 (63%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 166% over in Istanbul (comfortable) vs 237% in Bucharest. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇷🇴 Bucharest
Europe's fastest internet and lowest utility bills, with a booming IT sector.
Monthly budget: €1,095
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇹🇷 Istanbul
Enormous, cheap in euro terms, but inflation reprices everything every few months.
Monthly budget: €963
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Bucharest or Istanbul?
On salary, Bucharest pays more for tech roles (€2,600 versus €1,600 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,505 in Bucharest at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €650 in Bucharest against €550 in Istanbul. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Bucharest at 77 and Istanbul at 70 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.