Brussels vs Bucharest - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	Bucharest
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$1148
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$2906
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$562
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$953
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$380
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$81.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$1455
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	78
😀 Quality of life	91	84
🏙️ Population	196K	1.72M

The cost of living in Brussels is 77% more expensive than in Bucharest. Cities ranked 1939th and 4877th ($2030 vs $1148) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Belgium and Romania, respectively. Check Belgium vs Romania comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.3 months in Bucharest. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Bucharest ranked 1st in Romania, while ranked 121st and 482nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Brussels vs Bucharest

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

	Brussels	Bucharest
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$11.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$53.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$8.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$3.49
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$3.67
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$2.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$600
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$404
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$1100
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$694
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$9.73
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	6.95%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$3876
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$2257
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$0.89
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$20.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$6.32
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.75
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$1.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$3.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$9.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$12.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$1.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.67
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$2.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$0.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$0.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$2.66
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$7.48
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$6.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$6.99
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$4.53
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$46.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$8.26
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$66.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$84.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$95.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$703
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$14018

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1896
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1895
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1926
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1969
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1837
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1870
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1861
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1866
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1844
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1874
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1832
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1993
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1843
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1833
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1888
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1793
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1848
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1819
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1813
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1769
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1845
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1799
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1881
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1895
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1769
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1703
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1781
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1743
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1686
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1757
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1688
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1799
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1746
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1753
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1742
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1799
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1939
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1829
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1727
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1834

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$995
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$920
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$896
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$776
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$708
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$801
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$722
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$771
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$1018
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$653
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$672
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1120
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$762
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$801
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$705
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$701
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$804
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$857
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$870
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$953
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$662
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$906
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$610
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1140
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1041
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1119
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$676
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$818
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$733
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$874
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$824
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$823
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$809
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$702
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$855
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$749
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$807
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$673
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$725