Boston vs Brussels - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Boston	Brussels
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3345	$1869
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7700	$4554
🏠 One person rent	$2257	$1085
🏘️ Family rent	$3867	$1927
🍽️ Food expenses	$739	$557
🚐 Transport expenses	$146	$85.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5860	$3070
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	100	96
😀 Quality of life	92	89
🏙️ Population	676K	189K

The cost of living in Boston is 79% more expensive than in Brussels. Cities ranked 35th and 2147th ($3345 vs $1869) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 1st in the United States and Belgium, respectively. Check the United States vs Belgium comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Boston compared to 1.6 months in Brussels. Boston ranked 10th best city to live in the United States vs Brussels ranked 1st in Belgium, while ranked 83rd and 148th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Boston vs Brussels infographic

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Prices in Boston vs Brussels

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

	Boston	Brussels
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.1	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.5	$74.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.95	$5.38
☕ Cappuccino	$5.4	$3.91
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$2.7
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2636	$968
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1919	$834
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4850	$1848
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3294	$1555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$127	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$194	$258
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$67.3	$55.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.55%	3.39%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11687	$4416
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6831	$3736
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.4	$2.69
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$90.6	$53.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.9	$24
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.97	$1.88
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$1.49
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.14	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$2.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.29	$4.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.4	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.6	$18.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.47	$2.72
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.3	$2.74
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.24	$2.94
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$1.94
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.73	$1.79
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.3	$3.11
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$8.73
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.91	$2.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.1	$8.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.3	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.01	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.02	$1.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.01	$2.87
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$93	$30.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16	$13.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$165	$40.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.2	$23.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.3	$101
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.5	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2399	$978
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27937	$23098

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Boston

Distance	City	Cost of living
4 km or 2.5 mi	Cambridge	$3795
4.4 km or 2.7 mi	Chelsea	$3105
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Somerville	$3630
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	Everett	$2892
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Brookline	$3114
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Revere	$2953
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Malden	$2770
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Medford	$2989
10 km or 6.2 mi	Belmont	$3022
10 km or 6.2 mi	Arlington	$3023
10 km or 6.2 mi	Watertown	$2958
11 km or 6.9 mi	Melrose	$2802
12 km or 7.5 mi	Milton	$2947
12 km or 7.5 mi	Winchester	$2820
12 km or 7.7 mi	Newton	$2890
13 km or 7.8 mi	Saugus	$2841
13 km or 8.1 mi	Quincy	$3122
14 km or 8.6 mi	Stoneham	$2761
14 km or 8.9 mi	Waltham	$2846
15 km or 9.4 mi	Lynn	$3042
15 km or 9.5 mi	Woburn	$2618
16 km or 9.6 mi	Dedham	$2847
16 km or 10 mi	Needham	$2796
16 km or 10 mi	Lexington	$2723
16 km or 10 mi	Wakefield	$2746
18 km or 11 mi	Braintree	$2915
18 km or 11 mi	Weymouth	$2905
19 km or 12 mi	Reading	$2698
19 km or 12 mi	Hingham	$2859
20 km or 12 mi	Burlington	$2338
20 km or 13 mi	Wellesley	$2677
21 km or 13 mi	Norwood	$2773
22 km or 14 mi	Peabody	$2556
22 km or 14 mi	Randolph	$2823
22 km or 14 mi	Salem	$2537
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmington	$2522
23 km or 14 mi	Marblehead	$2594
23 km or 14 mi	Canton	$2787
25 km or 16 mi	Natick	$2395
26 km or 16 mi	Stoughton	$2750

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1682
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1524
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1659
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1652
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1593
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1619
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1644
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1669
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1599
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1743
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1648
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1825
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1640
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1567
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1645
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1613
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1544
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1630
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1619
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1553
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1575
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1581
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1678
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1618
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1469
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1563
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1568
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1533
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1484
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1517
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1539
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1426
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1536
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1536
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1511
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1413
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1596
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1631
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1570
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1650