City comparison
Cost of living in Tbilisi vs Istanbul
One person needs about €884 a month in Tbilisi and €963 in Istanbul, rent included — Tbilisi is 9% 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 Tbilisi on €3,000, you need
€3,268/ month net
9% more than today (+€268)
- Tbilisi today
- Basket €884 · left over €2,116 (71%)
- Istanbul at the matched salary
- Basket €963 · left over €2,305 (71%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 166% over in Istanbul (comfortable) vs 170% in Tbilisi. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇬🇪 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
🇹🇷 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 Tbilisi or Istanbul?
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: €520 in Tbilisi against €550 in Istanbul. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Tbilisi at 72 and Istanbul at 70 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.