Working and Hiring in Istanbul: Pay, Rent and What Employers Should Know

What it costs to employ someone in Istanbul

Social insurance in Turkey is national, so an Istanbul employer pays the same rates as anywhere in the country: 21.75% social insurance and 2% unemployment insurance on gross pay in 2026, 23.75% in total. On an example salary of TRY 80,000 gross a month, the employer adds TRY 17,400 in social insurance and TRY 1,600 in unemployment insurance, for a total of TRY 99,000 a month, or TRY 1,188,000 a year. An eligible private employer gets 2 points back from the Treasury, which brings the monthly cost to TRY 97,400. The employee's 14% social insurance, 1% unemployment insurance and income tax come out of the gross salary, so they do not add to the employer's cost.

The minimum wage, TRY 33,030 gross a month in 2026, notice periods, severance, leave, probation and income tax follow national law. Our guide to hiring in Turkey covers them.

Pay in Istanbul

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) does not publish an average salary for Istanbul on the pages we read, so we do not show one. Across Turkey, average gross monthly earnings were TRY 26,402 in November 2023, the latest structure of earnings survey. See average salary in Turkey for pay by sector and occupation, and set an Istanbul salary above the national level to reflect the city's higher housing costs.

Rent and housing in Istanbul

Homes in Istanbul were valued at a rent of TRY 475.20 per m² a month in the third quarter of 2026, according to bank appraisal data published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB). That is about TRY 47,520 a month for 100 m², and about 1.7 times the Turkish level of TRY 275.37 per m². Rents for new tenants were 35.5% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, the fastest rise of any region. Housing and rent took 29.6% of household spending in Istanbul in 2025, the highest share of Turkey's main regions. See cost of living in Istanbul.

The Istanbul labor market

The unemployment rate in Istanbul was 9.0% in 2025, against 8.3% for Turkey, and up from 8.8% in 2024. 51.8% of people aged 15 and over were in work, against 49.0% nationally. Istanbul households accounted for 25.6% of all household spending in Turkey in 2025, according to TÜİK.

How to hire in Istanbul

1. Find the person. Write the role, set the salary against Istanbul living costs, then source and interview candidates. You can run the search yourself with a job post, or use a placement service that delivers a shortlist.
2. Choose how to employ them. A Turkish entity running payroll, an employer of record or a contractor agreement.
3. Make the offer. The contract has to meet the Turkish Labor Law 4857. A contract of 1 year or more must be in writing.

There are 3 ways to employ someone in Istanbul. With a Turkish entity, you register a company in Turkey, register employees with the Social Security Institution (SGK), run payroll and pay the contributions yourself. With an employer of record (EOR), a third-party provider becomes the legal employer and runs Turkish payroll for a monthly fee per employee, while your company directs the work. With a contractor agreement, the person invoices you through their own business, and the relationship has to be genuinely independent.

Turkey is not in the European Union, so foreign nationals, EU citizens included, need a work permit to work in Istanbul.

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How Euro Remote Talent can help

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