Brussels vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$5389
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	91	95
🏙️ Population	196K	8.8M

The cost of living in Brussels is 52% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 1939th and 4th ($2030 vs $4202) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Belgium and the United States, respectively. Check Belgium vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 121st and 15th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Brussels vs New York City

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

	Brussels	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$21713

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	$1896
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1895
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1926
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1969
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1837
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1870
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1861
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1866
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1844
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1874
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1832
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1993
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1843
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1833
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1888
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1793
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1848
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1819
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1813
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1769
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1845
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1799
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1881
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1895
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1769
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1703
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1781
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1743
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1686
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1757
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1688
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1799
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1746
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1753
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1742
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1799
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1939
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1829
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1727
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1834

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192