Ankara vs Istanbul for couples
Ankara and Istanbul are both in Türkiye, about 352 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Ankara leads on cost.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Ankara is cheaper: we estimate about €2,503 a month for a couple living centrally, against €2,624 in Istanbul. That is €121 a month, or 5%, less.
Taxes
Same country, same tax: Türkiye is in our low to medium tax tier.
Climate
Istanbul is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 16°C against 13°C in Ankara. Ankara is drier, with about 373 mm of rain a year against 675 mm in Istanbul (45% less).
Safety
Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 60 out of 100.
Healthcare
Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 70 out of 100.
Internet
Our broadband figure is country-level: about 50 Mbps median fixed download in both.
Language
Main languages in both: Turkish. English proficiency is rated the same in both: limited English.
Residency and visas
Same country, same rules: long-term residency in Türkiye is rated possible, with conditions, with a self-funded route from about $917 a month in income.
Which one fits a couple
On the factors we measure, Ankara leads on cost (€2,503 against €2,624 a month), and Istanbul leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Istanbul: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Istanbul (16°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Ankara (13°C), and whoever minds rain will prefer Ankara (373 mm a year against 675 mm).
Size differs too: Ankara is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Istanbul a major one (over 5 million people). Ankara is inland; Istanbul is coastal.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Ankara, Istanbul and 913 other cities for both of you at once.