Brussels vs Edinburgh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Edinburgh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$2310
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$5713
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$1359
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$2393
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$594
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$166
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$3676
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	96	88
😀 Quality of life	91	95
🏙️ Population	196K	488K

The cost of living in Brussels is 12% less expensive than in Edinburgh. Cities ranked 1913th and 1247th ($2028 vs $2310) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 32nd in Belgium and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check Belgium vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 1.6 months in Edinburgh. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Edinburgh ranked 5th in the United Kingdom, while ranked 165th and 59th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Edinburgh infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs Edinburgh

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

	Brussels	Edinburgh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$21.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$89.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$10
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$8.41
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$5.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$2.68
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$1388
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$1053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$2488
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$1942
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$198
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$300
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$41.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	5.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$6892
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$4820
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$88.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$27.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$4.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$11.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$10.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$3.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.52
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$3.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$4.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.67
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$1.07
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$3.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$11.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$2.57
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$19.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$8.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$4.69
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$3.26
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$1.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$50
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$15.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$112
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$115
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$1932
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$23184

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 Edinburgh

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1768
21 km or 13 mi	Livingston	$1775
21 km or 13 mi	Dunfermline	$1728
42 km or 26 mi	Alloa	$1762
49 km or 30 mi	Cumbernauld	$1619
49 km or 31 mi	Stirling	$1711
52 km or 32 mi	Perth	$1641
56 km or 35 mi	Hamilton	$1797
59 km or 37 mi	Dundee	$1480
65 km or 40 mi	East Kilbride	$1840
66 km or 41 mi	Glasgow	$2058
78 km or 48 mi	Paisley	$1837
89 km or 56 mi	Kilmarnock	$1527
98 km or 61 mi	Greenock	$1575
99 km or 61 mi	Irvine	$1630
102 km or 63 mi	Dumfries	$1485
105 km or 65 mi	Ayr	$1522
120 km or 74 mi	Carlisle	$1759
147 km or 91 mi	Newcastle upon Tyne	$1963
149 km or 93 mi	Aberdeen	$1769
150 km or 93 mi	Gateshead	$1906
153 km or 95 mi	Tynemouth	$1805
153 km or 95 mi	Jarrow	$1825
154 km or 96 mi	South Shields	$1780
158 km or 98 mi	Washington	$1797
158 km or 98 mi	Whitehaven	$1778
164 km or 102 mi	Sunderland	$1602
166 km or 103 mi	Durham	$2079
173 km or 107 mi	Bishop Auckland	$1761
182 km or 113 mi	Inverness	$2021
189 km or 117 mi	Hartlepool	$1460
189 km or 117 mi	Elgin	$1507
190 km or 118 mi	Darlington	$1429
194 km or 121 mi	Stockton-on-Tees	$1431
197 km or 123 mi	Middlesbrough	$1638
211 km or 131 mi	Morecambe	$1840
212 km or 132 mi	Bangor	$1484
213 km or 132 mi	Lancaster	$1839
216 km or 134 mi	Douglas	$2205
224 km or 139 mi	Newtownabbey	$1808