Brussels vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$2496
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$6197
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$1388
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$2468
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$606
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$346
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$4328
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	92	100
🏙️ Population	196K	5.35M

The cost of living in Brussels is 17% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 1872nd and 893rd ($2065 vs $2496) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Belgium and Australia, respectively. Check Belgium vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Brussels compared to 1.7 months in Melbourne. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 99th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Brussels vs Melbourne

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

	Brussels	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$24.7	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$71.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$11.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$9.06
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$4.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$1549
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$1138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$2861
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$2079
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$115
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$52.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	5.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$7481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$6465
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$3.9
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.73
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$2.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$5.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$9.85
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$3.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$3.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.42
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$4.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$3.06
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$2.73
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$1.17
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$2.74
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$5.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$25.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$8.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$6.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$3.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$2.88
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$48.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$15.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$53.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$80
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$127
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$2232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$26129

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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1829
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1822
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1894
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1928
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1906
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1860
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1896
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2217
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1604
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1487
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1979
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1815
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1898
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1824
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1753
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2223
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1904
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1821
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2308
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1477
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1699
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2338
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1710
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1867
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2482
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2050
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2379
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1997
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1288
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172