Brussels vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$1171
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$2754
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$522
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$894
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$337
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$1761
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	73
😀 Quality of life	92	65
🏙️ Population	196K	4.8M

The cost of living in Brussels is 76% more expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 1872nd and 4839th ($2065 vs $1171) 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 1.8 months in Brussels compared to 1.5 months in Johannesburg. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Johannesburg ranked 1st in South Africa, while ranked 99th and 5190th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$24.7	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$43.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$5.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$2.81
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$448
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$377
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$804
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$689
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$91
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$1058
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$785
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$2.12
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$88.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$9.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.66
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$9.48
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$5.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$7.91
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$1.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$1.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.75
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$1.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$1.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$3.47
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$5.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$4.49
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$2.29
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$1.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$8.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$32.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$7.19
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$229
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$5808

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	$1920
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1932
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1939
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1993
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1853
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1906
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1900
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1917
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1866
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1894
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1860
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$2050
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1886
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1854
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1910
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1838
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1877
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1851
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1834
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1785
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1864
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1809
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1890
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1920
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1706
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1702
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1796
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1772
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1692
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1815
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1734
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1830
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1763
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1766
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1734
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1727
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1887
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1849
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1742
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1857

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$1089
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$958
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$1057
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$892
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$792
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$967
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$1049
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$765
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$865
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$950
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$1017
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$791
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$910
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$899
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$826
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$875
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$826
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$901
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$697
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$731
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$604
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$694
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$652
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$912
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$662
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$573
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$511
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$681
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$628
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$763
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$630
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$551
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$927
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$716
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$916
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$966
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$948
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$633
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$950