City comparison
Cost of living in Istanbul vs Buenos Aires
One person needs about €963 a month in Istanbul and €936 in Buenos Aires, rent included — Buenos Aires is 3% 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 Buenos Aires the way you live in Istanbul on €3,000, you need
€2,916/ month net
3% less than today (-€84)
- Istanbul today
- Basket €963 · left over €2,037 (68%)
- Buenos Aires at the matched salary
- Basket €936 · left over €1,980 (68%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 150% over in Buenos Aires (adequate) 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
🇦🇷 Buenos Aires
Very cheap in hard currency, with prices that move week to week.
Monthly budget: €936
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Istanbul or Buenos Aires?
On salary, Istanbul pays more for tech roles (€1,600 versus €1,400 a month), so the money left over after costs is €637 in Istanbul at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €550 in Istanbul against €550 in Buenos Aires. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Istanbul at 70 and Buenos Aires at 72 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.