Brussels vs Budapest - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Budapest
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$1469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$3612
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$750
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$1301
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$441
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$126
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$1697
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	96	92
😀 Quality of life	92	81
🏙️ Population	196K	1.69M

The cost of living in Brussels is 41% more expensive than in Budapest. Cities ranked 1872nd and 4163rd ($2065 vs $1469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Belgium and Hungary, respectively. Check Belgium vs Hungary comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Brussels compared to 1.2 months in Budapest. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Budapest ranked 1st in Hungary, while ranked 99th and 680th 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/budapest.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brussels vs Budapest infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brussels/budapest" target="_blank">Brussels vs Budapest - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brussels vs Budapest

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

	Brussels	Budapest
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$24.7	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$63.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$9.41
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$3.22
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$772
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$593
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$1424
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$1053
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$151
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$22.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	6.95%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$5742
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$3887
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$1.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$27.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.25
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$1.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$3.72
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$7.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$2.21
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$3.41
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$5.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$1.27
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$7.85
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$13.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$4.31
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$3.2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$9.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$76.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$107
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$486
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$15168

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 Budapest

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Budafok-Teteny	$1169
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$998
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1138
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1083
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1127
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1130
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$991
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$939
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$868
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1074
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1196
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$958
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1166
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$1040
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$989
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$877
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$1036
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1063
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$930
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$976
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1278
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1394
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$1002
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$961
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1190
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$984
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$1026
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1335
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$981
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$1031
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$1036
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$866
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$850
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1451
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1561
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$923
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$1004
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1124
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1291
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1196