City comparison
Cost of living in Istanbul vs Tbilisi
One person needs about €963 a month in Istanbul and €884 in Tbilisi, rent included — Tbilisi is 8% 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 Tbilisi the way you live in Istanbul on €3,000, you need
€2,754/ month net
8% less than today (-€246)
- Istanbul today
- Basket €963 · left over €2,037 (68%)
- Tbilisi at the matched salary
- Basket €884 · left over €1,870 (68%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 170% over in Tbilisi (comfortable) 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
🇬🇪 Tbilisi
One-year visa-free stays and the lowest cost base of any city we track in the region.
Monthly budget: €884
Sources: Geostat, CPI & average wages survey (2025) · 143 community reports
Should you move to Istanbul or Tbilisi?
On salary, Istanbul pays more for tech roles (€1,600 versus €1,500 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 €520 in Tbilisi. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Istanbul at 70 and Tbilisi at 72 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.