Brussels vs Detroit - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Detroit
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$2133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$5076
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$1225
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$2140
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$655
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$3098
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	96	77
😀 Quality of life	91	88
🏙️ Population	196K	639K

The cost of living in Brussels is 5% less expensive than in Detroit. Cities ranked 1913th and 1636th ($2028 vs $2133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1374th 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 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 1.5 months in Detroit. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Detroit ranked 99th in the United States, while ranked 165th and 311th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Detroit infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs Detroit

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

	Brussels	Detroit
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$19.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$75.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$10
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$6.03
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$4.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$2.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$1309
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$949
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$2383
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$1719
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$153
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$236
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$52.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	6.39%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$1383
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$1272
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$2.02
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$65.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$13.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$3.36
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$5.96
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$3.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$12
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$11.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$18.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$4.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.21
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$5.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$6.1
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$2.17
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.46
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$3.08
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$2.63
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$9.93
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$13.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$6.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$3.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$1.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$43.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$12.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$88.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$18.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$59.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$97.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$1177
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$16684

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 Detroit

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.9 km or 1.2 mi	Windsor	$1961
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Hamtramck	$2062
14 km or 8.6 mi	Dearborn	$2052
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lincoln Park	$1940
16 km or 9.8 mi	Allen Park	$2048
16 km or 10 mi	Ferndale	$2080
17 km or 10 mi	Wyandotte	$1737
17 km or 11 mi	Eastpointe	$2032
18 km or 11 mi	Madison Heights	$2124
18 km or 11 mi	Warren	$1963
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Park	$2061
19 km or 12 mi	Southgate	$1911
19 km or 12 mi	Royal Oak	$2085
20 km or 12 mi	Dearborn Heights	$2041
21 km or 13 mi	Roseville	$2039
21 km or 13 mi	Taylor	$2167
21 km or 13 mi	Southfield	$2062
22 km or 14 mi	St. Clair Shores	$2036
22 km or 14 mi	Inkster	$2053
24 km or 15 mi	Garden	$1996
26 km or 16 mi	Amherstburg	$1913
27 km or 17 mi	Birmingham	$2045
28 km or 17 mi	Sterling Heights	$1973
28 km or 17 mi	Livonia	$1874
29 km or 18 mi	Troy	$1958
29 km or 18 mi	Westland	$2048
30 km or 19 mi	Clinton Township	$2100
31 km or 19 mi	Romulus	$2078
32 km or 20 mi	Farmington Hills	$2345
37 km or 23 mi	Rochester Hills	$2002
39 km or 24 mi	Novi	$2295
40 km or 25 mi	Pontiac	$1822
42 km or 26 mi	Auburn Hills	$1957
54 km or 34 mi	Monroe	$1721
58 km or 36 mi	Ann Arbor	$2276
71 km or 44 mi	Chatham-Kent	$1832
86 km or 54 mi	Toledo	$1642
88 km or 54 mi	Burton	$1611
88 km or 54 mi	Port Huron	$1949
89 km or 55 mi	Sarnia	$1608