Turkey is a place where East meets West and is still adapting economically in response to global and regional changes. In recent years inflation, currency fluctuations, and changing job markets have heavily impacted the income levels of everyday citizens across the country. For professionals, remote workers, employers, or expats it is important to know what the average salary is in Turkey when making or accepting a job offer or hiring.
The average salary in Turkey is the result of skill levels, geographic location, industry growth, and education levels as of 2025. While wages are typically higher in the largest cities such as Istanbul and Ankara; many other regions are beginning to catch up as the country is quickly becoming more digitally adept and remote work opens up new possibilities.
When you are happy with the salary offered to you, looking to hire international talent, or simply like comparisons- this article provides updated and thoroughly researched information about Turkey’s salary averages. We will take into consideration the differences by profession, city, experience and more to help you understand what the current average salary in Turkey will look like in light of our changing economy.
Key Takeaways:
- What is the Average Salary in Turkey in 2025?
- Salary Comparison by Profession
- Salary Distribution by City
- Minimum Wage and Legal Salary Standards
- Salary Variance by Experience & Education
- Average Salaries for Remote Workers & Expats
- Cost of Living vs. Salary in Turkey
- Wage Gap & Gender Disparity in Turkey
- Turkey Salary vs. Other Countries
- Final Thoughts: Navigating Salaries in Turkey in 2025
What is the Average Salary in Turkey in 2025?

By 2025, the average salary in Turkey will be about TRY 20,700/month, which is around USD 640/month using current exchange rates. This number represents gross income—i.e. before tax or social security contributions—for all industries and experience levels.
- The median salary is about TRY 18,000/month so this means that half the working population is paid less, and half is paid more.
- Entry level or low skill jobs will pay about TRY 11,000/month on the low end.
- Senior level positions such as executives, IT professionals and medical consultants pay a total compensation of over TRY 45,000/month indicating that there is also a growing income gap in Turkey across sectors.
The average salary in Turkey varies considerably by several factors including industry, location, level of education and years of work experience. Therefore wage expectations vary considerably depending on your job role and qualifications.
Salary Comparison by Profession

It is important to understand the average salary in Turkey by profession. There are much more variation between jobs relative to specific industries, job roles, and qualifications.
High-Paying Professions
In Turkey, only certain professions really pay well, typically in highly skilled jobs. The highest earners are doctors and surgeons, who average between TRY 40,000 and 75,000 in salary per month. Other lucrative individuals are IT professionals including software developers and software engineers, who earn an average of TRY 30,000 and 55,000 per month. Pilots (TRY 45,000–70,000), lawyers (TRY 30,000–50,000), and finance managers (TRY 28,000–48,000) are other examples of high paying jobs in Turkey.
Mid-Tier Professions
Mid-tier professions represent a more middle of the road spread in average salary in Turkey. For example, teachers in the private sector can earn between TRY 15,000 and 25,000. Graphic designers earn an average of between TRY 18,000–30,000. Sales executives average between TRY 17,000–28,000.Meanwhile, HR managers earn between TRY 24,000 – 35,000.
Low-Income Professions
These include professions such as shop assistants, waiters and cleaners at the low end. All of these jobs average junior to mid-level salaries in Turkey, or TRY 10,500 to 16,000 per month. This continues to illustrate the disparity in salaries within the Turkish worker market.
Also, as a general comment about average salaries in Turkey, jobs that are technical, legal and medical are typically towards the higher end of the spectrum, whereas jobs involving manual labor and/or customer service are typically towards the low end of the spectrum.
Salary Distribution by City
Geography explains a considerable amount for average salary figures in Turkey. Salaries can differ significantly by city based on factors like economic activity, cost of living, and availability of corporate and government jobs.
Istanbul (Highest Paying)
Istanbul has the highest relative average monthly salary of TRY 25,000/ month on reported salaries. As the financial and technological capital of Turkey, Istanbul is home to many multinational corporations, technology/start up companies and high level offices for multinationals…Most of the high paying positions in banking, software, finance and marketing are based in Istanbul because of the outstanding opportunities and intense competition for world class professionals.
Ankara
In the capital of Turkey, salaries are more modest, coming to around TRY 21,000/month on average. The economy is primarily government- (or public sector) based, which is fine/rather stable as employment, but overall compensation is usually lower than alongside the private sector compensation levels in Istanbul.
Izmir
The average salary in Izmir is TRY 20,000/month. Izmir also is recognized as having a chill lifestyle. It is appealing to freelancers, digital nomads and creative occupations. Salary levels in Izmir may be lower than in Istanbul, but the lifestyle as well as cost of living is far more laid back.
Antalya & Bursa
Salaries in both cities averaged between TRY 17,000–19,000/month. The economy of these cities is posed in various manufacturing capacities, while the economy of Antalya relies on tourism. Bursa is considered more strength based on advanced automotive and manufacturing.
Eastern Anatolia
Here, the average salary in Turkey drops to TRY 13,000–16,000/month. Due to fewer corporate offices and a rural economy, wages are lower, but the cost of living is also significantly reduced.
Minimum Wage and Legal Salary Standards

The minimum wage in Turkey is a significant driver of the average salary in Turkey. As of January 2025, the gross minimum wage is TRY 17,002.12/month gross and the take-home pay or net minimum wage is around TRY 14,000/month. The minimum wage creates a floor for employees and has the important impact of establishing a baseline for salaries.
Legal Information:
- The minimum wage is revised semi-annually to account for inflation and cost of living changes.
- It only applies to full-time workers, which are usually 45 hours per week.
- All employers are required to register their employees, establishing social rights and workers’ benefits.
Minimum Wage Trend in Last Several Years:
- 2023: TRY 11,402/month (net)
- 2024: TRY 13,414/month (net)
- 2025: TRY 14,000/month (net)
Clearly, these small incremental increases in the minimum wage contribute to increased national average salary in Turkey, especially impacting low-skilled and entry-level employees.
Salary Variance by Experience & Education
When analyzing the average salary in Turkey for 2025, it is evident that experience and education play an important role in salary levels. People with a different amount of time in their careers or different levels of education can earn very different amounts in monthly income.
Experience Level
- Entry-Level (0–2 years): People who are just beginning their working career generally see salaries from roughly TRY 13,000 – 17,000 a month. People in these types of jobs are generally internships, junior roles, or roles with little experience required.
- Mid-Career (3–5 years): Individuals at the mid-career role usually see an increase in salary to about TRY 17,000 – 24,000 per month depending on the industry and their job performance.
- Senior-Level (6+ years): Senior employees or senior managers tend to have a considerably larger average salary in Turkey than the previous categories, with monthly salaries ranging from TRY 25,000 – 40,000+ per month. Especially, in fields such as technology, engineering, and finance, senior employees can command large salaries.
Education Level
- High School Diploma: Individuals with only a high school education typically earn on the lower end with salaries 0f around TRY 12,000 – 16,000 a month.
- Bachelor’s Degree: With a bachelor’s degree, there are many more opportunities, and average monthly salaries are on the increase towards TRY 18,000-28,000 a month applied to their area of studies e.g., STEM vs. Humanities, etc. and demand in the market.
- Master’s or PhD: Individuals with a postgraduate degree typically earn the most, anywhere between TRY 25,000 – 45,000+ a month. In fact, in some industries, specifically education and academic, etc. and research and development, both in-country and abroad, and senior corporate institutions, salaries paid to individuals with a postgraduate degree could be more even more substantial.
Overall, higher education and greater work experience significantly influence the average salary in Turkey, creating clear earning tiers across the job market.
Average Salaries for Remote Workers & Expats
Online work has created new avenues for Turkish professionals, allowing many to earn income higher than the standard average salary in Turkey. International companies are increasingly employing Turkish talent for remote, flexible work and often pays competitive rates in foreign currencies (USD or EUR), which considerably increases net income.
Remote Workers (Located in Turkey)
Remote workers, particularly in the technology field such as software developers, are some of the top-paying positions, making between TRY 35,000 and 60,000 per month because of the world demand for tech skills. Remote digital marketers can make between TRY 20,000 and 30,000 per month. Content writers earn between TRY 15,000 and 25,000 per month. These salaries are, in nearly all cases, above the average salary in Turkey due to the international nature of the employer.
Foreign Professionals in Turkey
Professionals from other countries working in Turkey in-exile, such as international school teachers, consultants, or NGO and embassy employees/consultants tend to pay equal to above average salary, and sometimes much more than average salaries in Turkey. International school teachers in Turkey tend to pay around TRY 30,000 per month, with consultants making between TRY 35,000 and 50,000 per month. NGO, and embassy employees can often earn many more and can go from TRY 40,000 to 60,000 per month.
In general, the remote work and expat the job sector are attractive alternatives to typical local jobs above average to exceptional salaries. Which ironically contributes.
Cost of Living vs. Salary in Turkey

When you receive a salary, that is one side of the story, but how far that goes is important as well. When looking at average salaries in Turkey we need to also consider living expenses, and how variable these can be depending on the location, the difference between salaries in Istanbul and hence the living costs of Istanbul vs a smaller region.
When you receive a salary, that is one side of the story, but how far that goes is important as well. When looking at average salaries in Turkey we need to also consider living expenses, and how variable these can be depending on the location, the difference between salaries in Istanbul and hence the living costs of Istanbul vs a smaller region.
Monthly Expenses of a single person living in Istanbul:
- Rent (1 bedroom) 10,000 – 15,000 TRY
- Utilities & Internet 2,000 – 3,000 TRY
- Groceries & Food 3,000 – 5,000 TRY
- Transport 1,000 – 1,500 TRY
Estimated total monthly cost: 16,000 – 24,000 TRY
In Turkey, average salary was around 20,700 TRY Teams of residents in Istanbul find themselves earning just enough to get by leaving limited room for savings or entertainment. For other smaller cities or rural areas, although average salaries are much lower than Istanbul, so too is the cost of living enabling a more comfortable lifestyle – even on lower incomes.
This understanding of the balance between wages and expenses is useful for professionals and expats when deciding things like relocation, budgeting, and salary negotiations.
Wage Gap & Gender Disparity in Turkey
There is still a huge wage disparity affecting the overall average wage in Turkey and more broadly wage inequality when comparing between men and women. For the sake of illustration, women earn on average around 17% less than men, which is indicative of societal issues with gender roles, as well as opportunities in the workplace. It is mostly men whom are leaders and senior managers, and because of this wage disparity levels differ too. More severe disparities exist within rural and conservative areas which limit women’s access to the highest paying jobs and overall workforce participation than may otherwise exist to in urban markets.
Key Stat:
- Women on average earn around 17% less than men.
- Men significantly fill leadership and upper management roles.
- Wage disparity exists in rural vs urban and indoor regional areas.
Actions to Improve Wage Inequality:
- NGO’s and startups with pay transparency and equal policies
- Government policies funding subsidized women to work within technology and STEM
- Increasing awareness and programs about closing wage gap.
Regardless of such measures, it remains unclear if full wage equality can be achieved, but positive changes in the labour landscape are transforming the fairness of salaries pertaining to average salary in Turkey.
Turkey Salary vs. Other Countries
Country | Avg Monthly Salary (USD) |
---|---|
Turkey | $640 |
Poland | $1,400 |
Germany | $3,800 |
India | $400 |
USA | $4,800 |
Brazil | $550 |
South Africa | $1,100 |
Turkey ranks relatively low compared to many European countries such as Germany and Poland, but reportedly offers higher average salaries than many countries in Asia and Africa, including India, and Brazil. This is useful contextualization as it helps put the average salary in Turkey in global perspective; which for example could be used by professionals considering job opportunities internationally or organizations that are looking at cross country salary comparisons.
Final Thoughts: Navigating Salaries in Turkey in 2025
In 2025, it is imperative to understand the average salary in Turkey for anyone engaging with the Turkish labour segment for any reason as a result of the changing economy, inflation rates, and increased globalisation. It is increasingly vital to know how wages are paid, other wage rates internationally, and where your Turkish wage falls in the mix.
For expats pondering relocation, having the forecasted average salary in Turkey provides a degree of financial realism when balancing with the cost of certain major cities (eg. in Istanbul or Ankara). For remote workers living in Turkey earning a foreign salary, the average salary provides insight into where they are on the pay scale and what their earning or work potential is. For companies considering outsourcing work to Turkey, they can assess if they are engaging with local talent cost-effectively and fairly paid.
Regardless of the situation, knowing the average salary in Turkey allows you to conduct business truthfully, fairly and smarter in a changing work space in 2025.