Brussels vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Brussels	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1816	$1781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4478	$4027
🏠 One person rent	$1024	$1048
🏘️ Family rent	$1880	$1736
🍽️ Food expenses	$567	$445
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.5	$163
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2931	$2294
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	96	98
😀 Quality of life	89	90
🏙️ Population	196K	3.42M

The cost of living in Brussels is 2% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 2354th and 2443rd ($1816 vs $1781) 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 1.6 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 190th and 151st 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	$18.9	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76.1	$57
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.8	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.16	$4.36
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$2.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$1203
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$770	$853
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1932	$2092
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1489	$1428
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$161	$94
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$145
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.7	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.61%	3.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4675	$6884
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4207	$3988
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.62	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.2	$32.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.8	$15.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.79	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.19	$3.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$8.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$14.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$2.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.77
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.21	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.6	$6.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$1.21
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.7	$6.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.54	$3.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.78	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.2	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$58.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.2	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.5	$80.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$975	$576
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19505	$10042

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	$1651
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1663
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1667
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1692
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1580
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1647
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1642
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1660
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1539
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1685
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1618
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1788
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1626
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1556
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1615
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1594
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1541
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1607
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1585
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1536
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1599
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1560
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1663
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1683
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1446
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1492
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1537
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1523
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1461
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1488
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1530
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1362
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1509
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1520
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1475
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1514
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1578
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1613
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1488
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1640

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522