Birmingham vs Brussels - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Birmingham	Brussels
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1951	$1816
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4641	$4478
🏠 One person rent	$1137	$1024
🏘️ Family rent	$1834	$1880
🍽️ Food expenses	$481	$567
🚐 Transport expenses	$175	$85.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3011	$2931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	96	96
😀 Quality of life	94	89
🏙️ Population	1.14M	196K

The cost of living in Birmingham is 7% more expensive than in Brussels. Cities ranked 1973rd and 2354th ($1951 vs $1816) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 86th and 1st in the United Kingdom and Belgium, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs Belgium comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Birmingham compared to 1.6 months in Brussels. Birmingham ranked 4th best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Brussels ranked 1st in Belgium, while ranked 35th and 190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Birmingham vs Brussels infographic

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

Prices in Birmingham vs Brussels

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

	Birmingham	Brussels
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$18.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$76.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.87	$12.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.15	$5.16
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$4.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.15	$2.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1083	$973
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$872	$770
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2013	$1932
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1380	$1489
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$187	$161
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$250
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.8	$52.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.86%	3.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4882	$4675
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3808	$4207
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$2.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$78.1	$53.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18	$23.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.51	$2.42
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$2.5
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.02	$4.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$14.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.49	$12.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$17.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$2.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.22
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$2.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$2.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$2.11
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.12	$3.21
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.2	$8.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.4	$10.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$9.25
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$4.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.99	$1.93
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.44	$2.78
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.6	$34.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$13.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$113	$38.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.4	$24.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$82.3	$94.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1512	$975
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18058	$19505

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1819
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1824
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1766
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$1740
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1717
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1745
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1743
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1732
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1731
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1718
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1728
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1608
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1737
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1736
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1744
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1903
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1452
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$1679
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2009
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1798
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1663
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1569
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1750
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1633
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1450
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1600
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1805
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1727
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1759
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1693
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1591
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1739
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1790
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1686
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1623
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1814
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1820
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1748

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