Brussels vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Brussels	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1869	$1726
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4554	$3985
🏠 One person rent	$1085	$986
🏘️ Family rent	$1927	$1693
🍽️ Food expenses	$557	$440
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.1	$168
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3070	$2362
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	96	98
😀 Quality of life	89	90
🏙️ Population	189K	3.28M

The cost of living in Brussels is 8% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 2147th and 2577th ($1869 vs $1726) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th 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 1.4 months in Madrid. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 148th and 121st 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	$14.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.3	$58.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.38	$4.01
☕ Cappuccino	$3.91	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$2.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$968	$1118
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$834	$805
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1848	$2068
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1555	$1386
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$85.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$258	$138
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.2	$32.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	2.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4416	$4611
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3736	$2665
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$1.64
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.2	$43.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.88	$1.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.49	$1.15
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$1.5
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$1.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.29	$3.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$14.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$8.08
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.2	$14.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.72	$2.39
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$1.93
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.74	$1.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$2.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.58
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.11	$2.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.73	$6.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.52	$1.33
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.76	$5.86
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.75	$3.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.97	$2.12
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.87	$2.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.9	$45.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.9	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40.3	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.8	$19.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$101	$73.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$84.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$978	$529
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23098	$9474

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	$1682
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1524
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1659
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1652
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1593
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1619
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1644
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1669
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1599
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1743
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1648
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1825
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1640
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1567
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1645
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1613
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1544
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1630
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1619
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1553
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1575
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1581
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1678
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1618
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1469
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1563
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1568
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1533
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1484
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1517
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1539
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1426
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1536
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1536
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1511
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1413
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1596
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1631
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1570
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1650

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1721
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1368
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1377
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1572
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1492
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1219
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1298
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1156
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1138
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1282
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1303
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1139
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1187
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1203
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1207
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$973
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$932
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1127
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1140
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1109
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$983
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1137
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1241
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1142
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$902
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1260
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1206
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1283
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1327
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1096
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1382
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$987
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$963
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1191
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1056
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1210
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$807
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1214
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1176
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1437