Brussels vs Istanbul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Istanbul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$1288
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$3260
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$675
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$1155
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$361
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$138
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$958
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	95
😀 Quality of life	91	78
🏙️ Population	196K	15.7M

The cost of living in Brussels is 57% more expensive than in Istanbul. Cities ranked 1913th and 4522nd ($2028 vs $1288) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Belgium and Turkey, respectively. Check Belgium vs Turkey comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 0.7 months in Istanbul. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Istanbul ranked 1st in Turkey, while ranked 165th and 1015th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Istanbul infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs Istanbul

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

	Brussels	Istanbul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$10.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$51.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$8.55
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$3.98
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$1.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$864
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$552
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$1568
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$944
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$47.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$73.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	46.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$2833
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$1376
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$0.72
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$47.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$6.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$0.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.6
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$9.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$8.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$1.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$2.33
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$1.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$1.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$0.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$0.61
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$1.55
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$13.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$2.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$2.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$2.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$52.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$8.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$61.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$9.56
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$53.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$1043
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$18637

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 Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$679
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$659
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$819
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$835
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$838
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$985
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$725
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$915
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$852
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$679
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$724
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$787
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$562
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$547
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$686
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$837
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$691
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$574
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$704
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$695
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$777
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$821
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$612
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$848
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$713
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$1151
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$655
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$732
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$697
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$1039
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$1006
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$618
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$699
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$664
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$591
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$725
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$745
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$760
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$1067
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$1013