Brussels vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$2788
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$547
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$919
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$351
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$210
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$420
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	73
😀 Quality of life	91	60
🏙️ Population	196K	4.8M

The cost of living in Brussels is 69% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1939th and 4745th ($2030 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Belgium and South Africa, respectively. Check Belgium vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 0.3 months in Johannesburg. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 121st and 5850th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Brussels vs Johannesburg

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

	Brussels	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$46
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$6.16
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$1.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$862
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$164
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$38.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	10.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$1060
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$777
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$1.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$92.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$8.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.36
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$8.99
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$5.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$9.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$2.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$1.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$6.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$1.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$3.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$5.66
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$4.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$8.59
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$31
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$7.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$57.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$244
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$5103

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	$1896
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1895
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1926
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1969
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1837
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1870
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1861
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1866
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1844
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1874
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1832
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1993
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1843
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1833
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1888
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1793
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1848
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1819
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1813
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1769
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1845
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1799
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1881
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1895
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1769
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1703
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1781
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1743
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1686
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1757
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1688
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1799
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1746
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1753
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1742
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1799
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1939
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1829
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1727
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1834

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1104
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$912
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1031
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$851
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$784
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$997
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1015
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$742
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$867
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$994
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$789
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$902
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$875
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$860
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$872
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$811
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$903
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$691
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$723
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$589
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$691
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$607
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$882
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$663
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$558
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$494
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$660
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$615
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$742
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$611
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$549
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$904
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$725
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$912
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$590
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1014
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$938
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$632
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$965