Brussels vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$2133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$4730
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$1249
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$1952
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$587
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$172
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$3871
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	96	49
😀 Quality of life	92	92
🏙️ Population	196K	1.02M

The cost of living in Brussels is 3% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1872nd and 1668th ($2065 vs $2133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 27th in Belgium and Canada, respectively. Check Belgium vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Brussels compared to 1.8 months in Ottawa. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Ottawa ranked 10th in Canada, while ranked 99th and 123rd 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/ottawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brussels vs Ottawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brussels/ottawa" target="_blank">Brussels vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brussels vs Ottawa

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

	Brussels	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$24.7	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$62.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$5.87
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$4.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$2.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$1328
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$1047
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$2126
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$1662
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$96.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$48.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	4.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$4318
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$3670
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$99.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$15.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$2.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$2.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$3.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$4.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$3.08
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$1.05
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$2.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$13.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$4.26
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$1.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$2.04
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$44.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$68.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$89.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$882
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$17337

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 Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1866
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2229
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1703
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1868
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1971
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1896
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1924
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1864
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1948
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1930
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1935
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1950
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1920
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1934
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1944
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1476
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1927
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1923
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1914
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$2047
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1800
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1893
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1876
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1733
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1907
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1862
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1910
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1928
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1875
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1940
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1923
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2080
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1897
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1846
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1861
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1723
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1918
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1891