Brussels vs Chicago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Brussels	Chicago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1958	$2667
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4780	$6807
🏠 One person rent	$1120	$1579
🏘️ Family rent	$1989	$3056
🍽️ Food expenses	$598	$700
🚐 Transport expenses	$91.6	$205
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3047	$4901
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	89	96
🏙️ Population	196K	2.75M

The cost of living in Brussels is 27% less expensive than in Chicago. Cities ranked 1988th and 483rd ($1958 vs $2667) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 425th in Belgium and the United States, respectively. Check Belgium vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.8 months in Chicago. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Chicago ranked 3rd in the United States, while ranked 173rd and 20th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Chicago infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Brussels vs Chicago

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

	Brussels	Chicago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.8	$21
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76	$87.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.1	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.51	$7.62
☕ Cappuccino	$4.14	$5.4
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.03	$3.12
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1032	$1974
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$881	$1280
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2055	$3828
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1606	$2594
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$102
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$236	$156
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.4	$59.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.71%	6.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4722	$3554
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4382	$3158
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$55.1	$76.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.1	$16.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.62	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.64	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$5
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.46	$3.69
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$14.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.5	$12.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.9	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.74	$4.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$4.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$4.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.16	$3.08
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.59	$2.86
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.86	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.1	$16.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.87	$6.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.03	$3.65
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.98	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.6	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.1	$126
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.5	$29.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$103	$62.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$117	$95.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1059	$2457
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23380	$19423

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	$1752
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1633
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1734
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1712
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1657
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1691
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1715
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1738
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1675
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1799
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1723
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1911
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1701
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1636
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1702
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1708
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1619
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1696
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1691
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1661
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1693
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1660
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1779
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1761
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1592
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1595
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1630
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1616
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1555
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1593
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1611
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1514
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1598
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1616
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1545
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1592
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1667
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1709
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1560
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1762

Cities near Chicago

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Cicero	$2427
14 km or 8.8 mi	Berwyn	$2463
14 km or 8.9 mi	Oak Park	$2424
16 km or 10 mi	Elmwood Park	$2375
18 km or 11 mi	Maywood	$2376
18 km or 11 mi	Evanston	$2177
19 km or 12 mi	Skokie	$2307
19 km or 12 mi	Burbank	$2344
20 km or 12 mi	Melrose Park	$2352
21 km or 13 mi	Oak Lawn	$2326
22 km or 14 mi	Morton Grove	$2367
22 km or 14 mi	Niles	$2412
23 km or 14 mi	Park Ridge	$2393
23 km or 14 mi	Wilmette	$2292
25 km or 16 mi	Blue Island	$2313
26 km or 16 mi	Elmhurst	$2305
27 km or 17 mi	Glenview	$2360
28 km or 17 mi	Des Plaines	$2358
28 km or 18 mi	Dolton	$2292
29 km or 18 mi	Villa Park	$2268
30 km or 19 mi	Harvey	$2292
30 km or 19 mi	East Chicago	$1950
30 km or 19 mi	Westmont	$2293
31 km or 19 mi	Calumet	$2296
31 km or 20 mi	South Holland	$2295
32 km or 20 mi	Lombard	$2224
32 km or 20 mi	Hammond	$1975
32 km or 20 mi	Oak Forest	$2276
33 km or 20 mi	Northbrook	$2392
33 km or 20 mi	Mount Prospect	$2363
33 km or 20 mi	Darien	$2276
33 km or 21 mi	Elk Grove Village	$2380
34 km or 21 mi	Downers Grove	$2290
35 km or 22 mi	Orland Park	$2269
36 km or 22 mi	Lansing	$2280
36 km or 22 mi	Glen Ellyn	$2134
37 km or 23 mi	Highland Park	$2331
37 km or 23 mi	Munster	$2002
37 km or 23 mi	Tinley Park	$2274
37 km or 23 mi	Wheeling	$2357