Brussels vs Budapest - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Budapest
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$1377
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$3353
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$707
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$1218
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$411
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$120
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$1503
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	96	92
😀 Quality of life	91	82
🏙️ Population	196K	1.69M

The cost of living in Brussels is 47% more expensive than in Budapest. Cities ranked 1913th and 4312th ($2028 vs $1377) 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 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 1.1 months in Budapest. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Budapest ranked 1st in Hungary, while ranked 165th and 636th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Budapest infographic

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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	$25.6	$10.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$55.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$8.58
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$3.18
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$1.8
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$735
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$557
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$1332
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$984
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$141
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$23.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	7.04%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$5141
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$3394
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$27.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$13.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.03
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$12.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$13.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$2.18
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$2.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$2.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$3.51
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.27
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$2.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$6.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$7.03
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$4.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.49
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$60
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$8.94
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$72.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$14.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$95
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$97.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$447
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$13171

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	$1854
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1876
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1889
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1931
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1758
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1847
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1858
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1870
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1732
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1845
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1816
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$2025
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1835
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1791
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1863
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1787
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1835
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1801
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1806
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1745
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1823
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1768
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1846
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1867
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1571
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1648
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1746
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1737
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1657
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1830
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1696
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1794
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1722
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1724
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1745
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1671
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1867
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1804
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1666
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1818

Cities near Budapest

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Budafok-Teteny	$1089
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$936
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1081
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1010
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1059
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1070
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$943
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$884
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$823
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1002
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1148
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$895
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1134
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$971
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$946
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$806
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$973
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1037
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$861
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$949
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1176
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1346
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$982
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$890
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1126
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$917
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$992
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1311
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$913
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$965
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$985
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$808
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$802
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1388
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1497
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$832
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$934
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1033
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1257
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1162