Brussels vs Oakland - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Oakland
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$3254
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$7791
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$2034
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$3588
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$877
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$139
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$5482
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	96	97
😀 Quality of life	91	95
🏙️ Population	196K	441K

The cost of living in Brussels is 38% less expensive than in Oakland. Cities ranked 1913th and 90th ($2028 vs $3254) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 70th 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 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 1.7 months in Oakland. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Oakland ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 165th and 45th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Oakland infographic

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Prices in Brussels vs Oakland

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

	Brussels	Oakland
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$30.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$124
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$7.55
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$5.39
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$3.18
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$1830
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$1813
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$3353
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$3276
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$154
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$233
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$63.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$7048
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$7022
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$3.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$85
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$22.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.45
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$5.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$7.18
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$6.51
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$20.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$14.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$17.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$7.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$2.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$6.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$6.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$4.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$3.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$2.04
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$3.05
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$1.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$11
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$5.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$5.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$1.91
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$53.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$14.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$178
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$22.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$72.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$2720
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$18326

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 Oakland

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.5 mi	Alameda	$3255
8 km or 5 mi	Berkeley	$3109
11 km or 6.5 mi	Albany	$2961
12 km or 7.3 mi	San Leandro	$3071
14 km or 8.7 mi	El Cerrito	$2998
15 km or 9.2 mi	San Francisco	$4110
15 km or 9.3 mi	Lafayette	$2950
17 km or 11 mi	San Lorenzo	$2810
17 km or 11 mi	Richmond	$3026
19 km or 12 mi	Castro Valley	$2957
20 km or 12 mi	San Pablo	$3014
20 km or 12 mi	Walnut Creek	$3033
21 km or 13 mi	Hayward	$2826
22 km or 14 mi	Danville	$3818
22 km or 14 mi	South San Francisco	$3227
23 km or 14 mi	Daly	$3223
24 km or 15 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2838
24 km or 15 mi	San Ramon	$2850
24 km or 15 mi	Hercules	$2858
25 km or 15 mi	San Bruno	$3230
26 km or 16 mi	Millbrae	$3285
26 km or 16 mi	Burlingame	$3317
26 km or 16 mi	Martinez	$2910
28 km or 17 mi	Concord	$2764
28 km or 17 mi	Foster	$3634
28 km or 17 mi	San Mateo	$3756
29 km or 18 mi	Pacifica	$3218
29 km or 18 mi	Union	$3045
30 km or 19 mi	Benicia	$2823
31 km or 19 mi	Dublin	$3070
31 km or 19 mi	San Rafael	$3797
32 km or 20 mi	Belmont	$3553
33 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3382
34 km or 21 mi	Vallejo	$2381
35 km or 22 mi	Newark	$3133
35 km or 22 mi	Pleasanton	$3462
35 km or 22 mi	Redwood	$3890
37 km or 23 mi	Fremont	$3328
38 km or 24 mi	East Palo Alto	$3333
39 km or 24 mi	Menlo Park	$3359