Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Caernarfon and Istanbul

For one person, living is cheaper in Caernarfon: $1,196 a month against $1,550 in Istanbul, rent and utilities included – about $4,200 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Istanbul outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

59

Cost of Living Index in Caernarfon
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Caernarfon Living Index
75

Cost of Living Index in Istanbul
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Istanbul Living Index

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Caernarfon

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,196

/mo nomad

Istanbul

🇹🇷 Turkey

$1,550

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Caernarfon and in Istanbul

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Caernarfon and in Istanbul actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,196 in Caernarfon versus $1,550 in Istanbul.

Caernarfon $1,196
Istanbul $1,550

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,704 in Caernarfon versus $2,415 in Istanbul.

Caernarfon $2,704
Istanbul $2,415

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,212 in Caernarfon versus $3,281 in Istanbul.

Caernarfon $4,212
Istanbul $3,281

Living in Caernarfon costs roughly 23% less than in Istanbul, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in utilities.

The two cities straddle the global median: Caernarfon is 11% below, Istanbul is 15% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.08 £9.82

$12.30 ₺609

6.34%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$90.8 £68.1

$54.7 ₺2,708

66.03%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.19 £6.90

$9.22 ₺456

-0.33%

Cappuccino

$3.85 £2.89

$4.40 ₺218

-12.50%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.59 £1.95

$1.68 ₺83.1

54.17%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.96 £1.47

$0.59 ₺29.40

232.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.72 £3.54

$4.70 ₺233

0.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.92 £2.94

$5.91 ₺292

-33.67%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.84 £1.38

$1.21 ₺60.0

52.07%

White Bread (500g)

$1.68 £1.26

$0.89 ₺44.10

88.76%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 £1.65

$2.19 ₺108

0.46%

Eggs

$2.32 £1.74

$2.35 ₺116

-1.28%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.01 £6.76

$10.42 ₺516

-13.53%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.38 £5.53

$5.65 ₺280

30.62%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.08 £11.31

$20.94 ₺1,037

-27.98%

Apples (1kg)

$2.58 £1.93

$1.90 ₺94.1

35.79%

Banana (1kg)

$1.28 £0.96

$2.31 ₺114

-44.59%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.29 £0.97

$1.28 ₺63.1

0.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.36 £1.02

$1.80 ₺89.0

-24.44%

Potato (1kg)

$1.64 £1.23

$0.65 ₺32.16

152.31%

Onion (1kg)

$1.74 £1.31

$0.64 ₺31.91

171.88%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.36 £1.02

$1.25 ₺62.1

8.80%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.56 £1.17

$0.56 ₺27.58

178.57%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.03 £16.53

$2.37 ₺118

829.54%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.08 £6.81

$13.42 ₺664

-32.34%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.58 £2.68

$2.40 ₺119

49.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.35 £2.52

$3.48 ₺172

-3.74%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$5.60 £4.20

$0.89 ₺43.84

529.21%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$67.7 £50.8

$67.4 ₺3,338

0.33%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.11 £3.83

$1.29 ₺64.1

296.12%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.31 £1.73

$0.92 ₺45.70

151.09%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$24.10 £18.08

$10.96 ₺542

119.89%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.97 £1.48

$1.47 ₺72.9

34.01%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$38.1K £28.6K

$50.8K ₺2.5M

-25.01%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$40.3K £30.3K

$44.5K ₺2.2M

-9.39%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$314 £236

$88.6 ₺4,387

254.75%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$20.96 £15.72

$11.59 ₺574

80.85%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$39.31 £29.49

$15.81 ₺783

148.64%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$29.97 £22.48

$77.2 ₺3,820

-61.16%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.74 ₺1,126

Cinema Ticket

$15.92 £11.94

$8.14 ₺403

95.58%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,570 £1,178

$1,008 ₺49.9K

55.73%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$23.6K £17.7K

$25.6K ₺1.3M

-7.69%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$107 £80.4

$54.0 ₺2,671

98.68%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.70 £37.29

$40.83 ₺2,021

21.72%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$107 £80.4

$98.9 ₺4,895

8.35%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.8 £59.9

$96.6 ₺4,783

-17.42%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$662 £497

$985 ₺48.7K

-32.73%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$650 ₺32.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,983 ₺98.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,604 £1,204

$1,180 ₺58.4K

35.96%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,138 ₺155.4K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,780 ₺88.1K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,516 £2,638

$1,205 ₺59.7K

191.68%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.09

40.92

-87.56%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Caernarfon: October 12, 2026

Last update for Istanbul: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Caernarfon

$375 31.3%

Istanbul

$116 7.5% 69% $259

Groceries & Markets

Caernarfon

$270 22.6%

Istanbul

$260 16.8% 3.9% $11

Eating Out

Caernarfon

$228 19.1%

Istanbul

$223 14.4% 2.1% $4.9

Clothing & Footwear

Caernarfon

$155 12.9%

Istanbul

$131 8.4% 15.6% $24

Getting Around

Caernarfon

$107 8.9%

Istanbul

$77 5% 28% $30

Sport & Entertainment

Caernarfon

$62 5.2%

Istanbul

$93 6% 51.2% $32

Accommodation & Living

Caernarfon

- * 0%

Istanbul

$650 41.9%

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $662 in Caernarfon and $985 in Istanbul. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Caernarfon pays 192% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $91.0 in Caernarfon vs $55.0 in Istanbul for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $270 vs $260 per month, with Istanbul cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Caernarfon

🇹🇷 Istanbul

🕒 Local time

19:48 7:48 PM

21:48 9:48 PM

2 h ahead of Caernarfon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,500

15,701,602

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Turkish Lira TRY ₺

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 TRY = 2.02 USD

100 TRY = 1.8 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TRY, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Turkish Lira exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 49.51 TRY (100 TRY = 2.02 USD). 1 EUR = 55.66 TRY (100 TRY = 1.8 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Caernarfon Istanbul 2,820 km ≈ 4 h nonstop flight

From you

Caernarfon
Istanbul

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Caernarfon vs Istanbul: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Caernarfon is cheaper overall, especially in leisure. The 30% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 192% higher in Caernarfon, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $662 in Caernarfon versus $985 in Istanbul. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Caernarfon – a meal for two runs $91.0 versus $55.0 in Istanbul. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,196 per month in Caernarfon versus $1,550 in Istanbul – a 30% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,196 in Caernarfon versus $1,550 in Istanbul, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Caernarfon but tight or insufficient in Istanbul. The gap between the two cities makes Caernarfon the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Caernarfon is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Istanbul, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Caernarfon and Istanbul are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Caernarfon gentler on the wallet – expenses run 30% less than in Istanbul. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.