Amsterdam vs Brussels - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Amsterdam	Brussels
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2791	$1816
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6603	$4478
🏠 One person rent	$1828	$1024
🏘️ Family rent	$3238	$1880
🍽️ Food expenses	$586	$567
🚐 Transport expenses	$226	$85.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4145	$2931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	95	96
😀 Quality of life	95	89
🏙️ Population	921K	196K

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 54% more expensive than in Brussels. Cities ranked 331st and 2354th ($2791 vs $1816) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs Belgium comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Amsterdam compared to 1.6 months in Brussels. Amsterdam ranked 1st best city to live in the Netherlands vs Brussels ranked 1st in Belgium, while ranked 29th and 190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Brussels infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/amsterdam/brussels.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Brussels infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/amsterdam/brussels" target="_blank">Amsterdam vs Brussels - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Amsterdam vs Brussels

Prices for goods and services in Amsterdam and Brussels are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Amsterdam	Brussels
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21	$18.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93.8	$76.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.9	$12.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.3	$5.16
☕ Cappuccino	$4.22	$4.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.13	$2.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1920	$973
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1536	$770
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3785	$1932
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2716	$1489
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$172	$161
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$264	$250
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.6	$52.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.17%	3.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9911	$4675
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7140	$4207
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.59	$2.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$93.9	$53.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.2	$23.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.11	$1.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$2.42
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.5
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.65	$4.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$14.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$12.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$17.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$2.22
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$2.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$3.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$2.11
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.65	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.1	$3.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.64	$8.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.5	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13	$10.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.93	$9.25
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.67	$4.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$1.93
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.25	$2.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.3	$34.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$13.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$38.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$24.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.7	$94.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2405	$975
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18104	$19505

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$1944
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2291
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2085
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$1937
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$2090
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2049
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$1957
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$1995
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2251
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2081
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$1934
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2180
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1357
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2042
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$1844
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2199
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2049
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$1861
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$1760
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2359
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1631
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2062
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$1969
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1651
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$1829
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2432
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2026
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2105
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$1823
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$1893
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$1941
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1975
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$1613
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1764
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$1813
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$1851
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$1999
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$1890
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$1739
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$1862

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1651
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1663
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1667
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1692
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1580
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1647
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1642
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1660
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1539
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1685
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1618
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1788
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1626
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1556
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1615
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1594
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1541
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1607
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1585
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1536
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1599
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1560
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1663
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1683
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1446
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1492
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1537
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1523
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1461
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1488
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1530
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1362
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1509
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1520
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1475
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1514
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1578
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1613
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1488
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1640