Brussels vs Bucharest - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Bucharest
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$1138
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$2971
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$535
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$931
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$389
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$84.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$1467
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	78
😀 Quality of life	92	84
🏙️ Population	196K	1.72M

The cost of living in Brussels is 82% more expensive than in Bucharest. Cities ranked 1872nd and 4935th ($2065 vs $1138) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Belgium and Romania, respectively. Check Belgium vs Romania comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 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 99th and 508th 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/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	$24.7	$11.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$57.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$8.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$3.53
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.56
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$2.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$586
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$1055
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$699
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$99.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$151
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$10.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	7.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$4123
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$2286
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$0.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$22.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$6.84
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.76
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.66
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$1.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$3.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$10.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$7.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$12.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$1.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$2.49
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$0.87
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$0.91
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$2.33
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$7.76
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$1.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$6.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$7.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$4.79
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$1.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$3.11
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$48.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$8.67
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$69.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$11.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$86.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$769
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$16525

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	$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

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$999
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$956
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$926
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$784
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$724
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$831
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$758
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$777
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$970
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$666
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1150
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$759
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$826
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$704
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$732
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$805
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$910
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$871
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$983
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$665
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$950
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$607
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1099
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1062
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1132
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$840
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$716
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$916
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$844
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$864
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$841
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$738
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$872
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$763
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$773
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$683
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$795