Country guide · Turkey
Moving to Turkey: cost of living, salaries, taxes, visas
Istanbul bridges Europe and Asia on a very low euro cost base; high inflation moves lira figures fast; residence-permit routes are straightforward.
Turkey — anchored by Istanbul for our data — is exceptionally cheap measured in euros or dollars, which has drawn a large community of remote workers and entrepreneurs to Istanbul's Kadıköy and Beşiktaş districts. The trade-off is macro volatility: persistent high inflation means lira-denominated costs and salaries reprice quickly, so treat figures as a moving snapshot.
Tax residency triggers at 183 days, after which worldwide income is taxable on a progressive scale. Short-term residence permits are relatively accessible, and private healthcare is modern and inexpensive by Western standards — a major reason Istanbul also attracts medical tourism.
Data signals
What the numbers say about Turkey
The take-home math
Take-home pay in Turkey is shaped by a roughly 29% effective payroll deduction (income tax + social security), with VAT at 20%.
The main hub
Its primary hub, Istanbul, carries a cost index of 36 (New York = 100).
Cost spread within the country
Across the 2 Turkey cities we track, the cost index spans 29 (Ankara) to 36 (Istanbul).
Average wage
Average salary in Turkey
The average annual wage in Turkey is about $47,253 (PPP-adjusted US$), per the OECD (2023). PPP-adjusted means it's comparable across countries on what the money actually buys — the OECD-wide average is ~$61,000. Source: OECD.
This is a country-wide figure. For what you actually need to earn in a specific city, see the salary-by-lifestyle breakdown on each city's cost-of-living page.
See take-home pay in Turkey after tax → or compare with another country.
At a glance
Turkey relocation profile
Vs the catalog average
Is Istanbul cheap or expensive, relatively?
Istanbul's cost and rent index against the mean across every city Mundevo covers.
Index base: New York = 100. Catalog average is the unweighted mean across all cities Mundevo tracks, recomputed on every build.
Tax and visa landscape
Headline tax model + entry-point visa overview for relocators.
- Effective income tax: 15.0%
- Social security (employee): 14.0%
- Total payroll deduction: 29.0%
- VAT: 20.0%
- Currency: TRY
Effective rates assume a single salaried filer at country median wage. Special regimes (e.g. expat-favoring schemes) are not applied here — see the visa guide for those.
A dedicated visa guide for Turkey is not yet published. For current rules and category eligibility, contact the Turkey consulate in your country of residence.
Salary bands at Istanbul — by role
Illustrative gross-salary bands for 6 senior IC roles in Istanbul. Derived from NYC anchor × Turkey pay-tier multiplier. Cross-check Levels.fyi, Glassdoor before negotiating.
| Role | P25 | P50 | P75 | NYC anchor (P50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | TRY 2,819,444 | TRY 3,500,000 | TRY 4,472,222 | $180,000 |
| Product manager | TRY 2,916,667 | TRY 3,791,667 | TRY 5,055,556 | $195,000 |
| UX / product designer | TRY 1,925,000 | TRY 2,537,500 | TRY 3,412,500 | $145,000 |
| Marketing manager | TRY 1,662,500 | TRY 2,275,000 | TRY 3,062,500 | $130,000 |
| Data scientist | TRY 2,625,000 | TRY 3,402,778 | TRY 4,472,222 | $175,000 |
| Finance analyst | TRY 2,138,889 | TRY 3,013,889 | TRY 4,277,778 | $155,000 |
Top relocation corridors
Closest peers by cost-of-living index — the moves most commonly considered alongside Turkey.