City comparison
Cost of living in Sofia vs Istanbul
One person needs about €1,050 a month in Sofia and €963 in Istanbul, rent included — Istanbul 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 Istanbul the way you live in Sofia on €3,000, you need
€2,751/ month net
8% less than today (-€249)
- Sofia today
- Basket €1,050 · left over €1,950 (65%)
- Istanbul at the matched salary
- Basket €963 · left over €1,788 (65%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 166% over in Istanbul (comfortable) vs 210% in Sofia. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇧🇬 Sofia
Flat 10% income tax, mountains at the tram terminus, and very low fixed costs.
Monthly budget: €1,050
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 Sofia or Istanbul?
On salary, Sofia pays more for tech roles (€2,200 versus €1,600 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,150 in Sofia at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €600 in Sofia against €550 in Istanbul. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Sofia at 76 and Istanbul at 70 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.