Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between İzmit and Sofia

For one person, living is cheaper in İzmit: $947 a month against $1,585 in Sofia, rent and utilities included – about $7,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

45

Cost of Living Index in İzmit
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İzmit Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Sofia
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Sofia Living Index

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İzmit

🇹🇷 Turkey

$947

/mo nomad

Sofia

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$1,585

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in İzmit and in Sofia

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $947 in İzmit versus $1,585 in Sofia.

İzmit $947
Sofia $1,585

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,414 in İzmit versus $2,486 in Sofia.

İzmit $1,414
Sofia $2,486

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,881 in İzmit versus $3,387 in Sofia.

İzmit $1,881
Sofia $3,387

Living in İzmit costs roughly 40% less than in Sofia, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: İzmit is 30% below, Sofia is 17% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.47 ₺374

$16.57 BGN 28.84

-54.92%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$29.77 ₺1,490

$67.7 BGN 118

-56.01%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.86 ₺393

$11.68 BGN 20.33

-32.71%

Cappuccino

$3.51 ₺175

$3.41 BGN 5.93

2.93%

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

$1.08 ₺54.2

$2.36 BGN 4.11

-54.24%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 ₺14.61

$1.67 BGN 2.91

-82.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.66 ₺133

$3.99 BGN 6.94

-33.33%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.73 ₺137

$4.53 BGN 7.88

-39.74%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.91 ₺45.43

$1.94 BGN 3.38

-53.09%

White Bread (500g)

$0.95 ₺47.48

$1.55 BGN 2.70

-38.71%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.27 ₺113

$2.35 BGN 4.09

-3.40%

Eggs

$1.98 ₺99.1

$4.60 BGN 8.00

-56.96%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.81 ₺391

$11.47 BGN 19.96

-31.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.89 ₺194

$8.65 BGN 15.04

-55.03%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$18.99 ₺950

$17.34 BGN 30.17

9.52%

Apples (1kg)

$1.65 ₺82.7

$2.15 BGN 3.73

-23.26%

Banana (1kg)

$1.88 ₺94.2

$1.98 BGN 3.45

-5.05%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.01 ₺50.7

$1.83 BGN 3.18

-44.81%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.19 ₺59.6

$4.27 BGN 7.43

-72.13%

Potato (1kg)

$0.49 ₺24.39

$1.04 BGN 1.82

-52.88%

Onion (1kg)

$0.34 ₺17.22

$0.89 BGN 1.54

-61.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.72 ₺36.23

$1.19 BGN 2.06

-39.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.62 ₺30.78

$0.83 BGN 1.45

-25.30%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.26 ₺113

$4.40 BGN 7.66

-48.64%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.09 ₺405

$7.42 BGN 12.91

9.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.96 ₺98.3

$1.16 BGN 2.01

68.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.18 ₺109

$1.90 BGN 3.30

14.74%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.77 ₺38.63

$0.92 BGN 1.60

-16.30%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$28.11 BGN 48.91

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.98 ₺48.82

$1.67 BGN 2.90

-41.32%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 ₺53.8

$0.85 BGN 1.49

25.88%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.99 ₺200

$16.59 BGN 28.87

-75.95%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.27 ₺63.7

$1.74 BGN 3.03

-27.01%

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

$41.1K ₺2.1M

$29.9K BGN 52.1K

37.43%

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

$39.4K ₺2.0M

$25.0K BGN 43.5K

57.53%

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

$44.21 ₺2,212

$158 BGN 275

-71.99%

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

$10.03 ₺502

$21.27 BGN 37.01

-52.84%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.73 ₺637

$15.12 BGN 26.30

-15.81%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$47.48 ₺2,376

$46.85 BGN 81.5

1.34%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.82 BGN 48.41

Cinema Ticket

$4.98 ₺249

$10.00 BGN 17.39

-50.20%

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

$454 ₺22.7K

$815 BGN 1,419

-44.38%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,992 ₺299.8K

$14.6K BGN 25.5K

-59.09%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$47.84 ₺2,394

$87.1 BGN 152

-45.07%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.69 ₺2,136

$38.28 BGN 66.6

11.52%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.6 ₺4,183

$106 BGN 184

-20.85%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$73.9 ₺3,697

$107 BGN 187

-31.07%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$452 ₺22.6K

$769 BGN 1,338

-41.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$344 ₺17.2K

$593 BGN 1,032

-41.97%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$746 ₺37.3K

$1,530 BGN 2,662

-51.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$492 ₺24.6K

$1,061 BGN 1,846

-53.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,116 ₺55.9K

$4,526 BGN 7,875

-75.33%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,151 ₺57.6K

$3,109 BGN 5,410

-62.99%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,780 BGN 3,098

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.89

1284.08%

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

Last update for İzmit: October 31, 2026

Last update for Sofia: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

İzmit

$344 36.3%

Sofia

$593 37.4% 72.3% $249

Groceries & Markets

İzmit

$208 21.9%

Sofia

$288 18.2% 38.5% $80

Eating Out

İzmit

$150 15.8%

Sofia

$254 16% 69.5% $104

Clothing & Footwear

İzmit

$112 11.8%

Sofia

$152 9.6% 36.4% $41

Monthly Utilities & Internet

İzmit

$67 7.1%

Sofia

$194 12.3% 190% $127

Sport & Entertainment

İzmit

$57 6.1%

Sofia

$67 4.2% 16.4% $9.4

Getting Around

İzmit

$9.4 * 1%

Sofia

$38 2.4% 300% $28

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 $452 in İzmit and $769 in Sofia. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $30 in İzmit vs $68 in Sofia for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $208 vs $288 per month, with İzmit cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇷 İzmit

🇧🇬 Sofia

🕒 Local time

21:58 9:58 PM

20:58 8:58 PM

1 h behind İzmit

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

376,056

1,286,383 Capital

💱 Currency

Turkish Lira TRY ₺

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

📈 Exchange rate

100 TRY = 2 USD

100 TRY = 1.78 EUR

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.511 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BGN, USD, EUR to TRY – Turkish Lira Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇷 Turkish Lira (₺)

Turkish Lira exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 50.04 TRY (100 TRY = 2 USD). 1 EUR = 56.23 TRY (100 TRY = 1.78 EUR).

Bulgarian Lev exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 1.74 BGN (1 BGN = 0.575 USD). 1 EUR = 1.96 BGN (1 BGN = 0.511 EUR).

USD to TRY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

İzmit Sofia 590 km ≈ 1 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

İzmit
Sofia

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

İzmit vs Sofia: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $947 in İzmit and $1,585 in Sofia, so İzmit is about 40% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $1,421 in İzmit and $2,378 in Sofia to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $452 in İzmit versus $769 in Sofia. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $454 in İzmit versus $815 in Sofia. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in İzmit – a meal for two runs $30 versus $68 in Sofia. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $947 in İzmit versus $1,585 in Sofia, a $1,200 budget is realistic in İzmit but tight or insufficient in Sofia. The gap between the two cities makes İzmit the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, İzmit and Sofia are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.