City comparison
Cost of living in Istanbul vs Bucharest
One person needs about €963 a month in Istanbul and €1,095 in Bucharest, rent included — Istanbul is 14% 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 Bucharest the way you live in Istanbul on €3,000, you need
€3,411/ month net
14% more than today (+€411)
- Istanbul today
- Basket €963 · left over €2,037 (68%)
- Bucharest at the matched salary
- Basket €1,095 · left over €2,316 (68%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 237% over in Bucharest (very strong) vs 166% in Istanbul. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇹🇷 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
🇷🇴 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
Should you move to Istanbul or Bucharest?
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: €550 in Istanbul against €650 in Bucharest. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Istanbul at 70 and Bucharest at 77 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.