Brussels vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$2015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$4668
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$1177
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$2051
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$189
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$2580
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	96	98
😀 Quality of life	91	92
🏙️ Population	196K	3.42M

The cost of living in Brussels is 0.7% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 1913th and 1962nd ($2028 vs $2015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in Belgium and Spain, respectively. Check Belgium vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 165th and 142nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Madrid infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs Madrid

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

	Brussels	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$62.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$4.96
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.72
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$3.13
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$1341
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$959
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$2482
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$1691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$32.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	3.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$8353
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$4881
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$1.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$43.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$3.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$16.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$8.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$2.83
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$2.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$2.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$2.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$2.51
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$8.79
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$6.94
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$3.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$2.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$2.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$52
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$70.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$102
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$678
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$12418

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 Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1870
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1674
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1656
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1703
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1592
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1581
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1627
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1573
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1194
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1325
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1385
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1217
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1346
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1400
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1367
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1189
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$893
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1225
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1337
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1343
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1464
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1312
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1407
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1118
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1225
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1414
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1369
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1490
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1457
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1272
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1685
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1303
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1133
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1345
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1233
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1320
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$913
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1382
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1344
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1703