Athens vs Brussels - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Athens	Brussels
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1462	$2065
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3581	$4988
🏠 One person rent	$722	$1165
🏘️ Family rent	$1260	$2046
🍽️ Food expenses	$510	$658
🚐 Transport expenses	$95.1	$92.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1363	$3697
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	91	96
😀 Quality of life	81	92
🏙️ Population	643K	196K

The cost of living in Athens is 29% less expensive than in Brussels. Cities ranked 4184th and 1872nd ($1462 vs $2065) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 1st in Greece and Belgium, respectively. Check Greece vs Belgium comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.9 months in Athens compared to 1.8 months in Brussels. Athens ranked 1st best city to live in Greece vs Brussels ranked 1st in Belgium, while ranked 639th and 99th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Athens vs Brussels

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

	Athens	Brussels
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$24.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$63.9	$80.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10	$14.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.25	$6.48
☕ Cappuccino	$4.6	$4.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$3.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$676	$1092
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$533	$909
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1248	$1988
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$976	$1675
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$128	$160
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$197	$250
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$32.4	$58.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.65%	3.39%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4084	$5177
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3602	$3603
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.43	$2.95
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.6	$64.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.6	$23.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.11	$1.98
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.94	$1.56
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$2.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$2.62
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.18	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$13.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.8	$21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.48	$3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$2.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.69
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$3.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$2.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$2.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$0.76
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.7	$3.64
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$9.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.96	$2.5
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.99	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.55	$5.15
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.05	$2.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.85	$3.37
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.2	$40.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.5	$15.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$55.1	$38.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.7	$28.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$105	$104
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$1225
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13299	$19894

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Athens

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.6 km or 2.2 mi	Kallithea	$1318
4 km or 2.5 mi	Nea Smyrni	$1304
5 km or 3.1 mi	Peristeri	$1192
5.5 km or 3.4 mi	Palaio Faliro	$1410
6.5 km or 4 mi	Nea Filadelfeia	$1279
6.7 km or 4.2 mi	Nea Ionia	$1286
7.3 km or 4.5 mi	Piraeus	$1240
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Nikaia	$1187
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Argyroupoli	$1468
12 km or 7.2 mi	Glyfada	$1663
15 km or 9 mi	Kifissia	$1426
15 km or 9.1 mi	Voula	$1497
15 km or 9.4 mi	Aspropyrgos	$1046
16 km or 10 mi	Eleusis	$1139
20 km or 12 mi	Salamina	$1069
55 km or 34 mi	Chalcis	$1199
69 km or 43 mi	Corinth	$1031
129 km or 80 mi	Tripoli	$1165
151 km or 94 mi	Lamia	$954
154 km or 96 mi	Mykonos	$2084
168 km or 104 mi	Volos	$1130
176 km or 109 mi	Patras	$1104
178 km or 111 mi	Kalamata	$1169
214 km or 133 mi	Agrinio	$1010
216 km or 134 mi	Chios	$1272
216 km or 134 mi	Larissa	$1150
219 km or 136 mi	Karditsa	$1124
231 km or 143 mi	Santorini	$1900
243 km or 151 mi	Trikala	$1110
275 km or 171 mi	Mytilene	$1079
275 km or 171 mi	Katerini	$1047
275 km or 171 mi	Chania	$1320
298 km or 185 mi	Rethymno	$1207
302 km or 188 mi	Thessaloniki	$1272
303 km or 188 mi	Izmir	$1040
307 km or 191 mi	Kozani	$1068
311 km or 193 mi	Ioannina	$1075
311 km or 193 mi	Kusadasi	$822
311 km or 193 mi	Veria	$1013
315 km or 196 mi	Crete	$1360

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1920
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1932
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1939
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1993
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1853
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1906
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1900
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1917
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1866
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1894
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1860
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$2050
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1886
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1854
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1910
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1838
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1877
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1851
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1834
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1785
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1864
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1809
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1890
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1920
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1706
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1702
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1796
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1772
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1692
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1815
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1734
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1830
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1763
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1766
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1734
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1727
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1887
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1849
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1742
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1857