Brussels vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$2122
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$4795
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$1248
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$2038
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$575
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$3638
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	96	49
😀 Quality of life	91	91
🏙️ Population	196K	1.02M

The cost of living in Brussels is 4% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1939th and 1688th ($2030 vs $2122) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 22nd in Belgium and Canada, respectively. Check Belgium vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.7 months in Ottawa. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Ottawa ranked 8th in Canada, while ranked 121st and 141st 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	$21.2	$15.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$65.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$11.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$5.79
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$4.28
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$1259
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$1072
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$2157
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$1775
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$93.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$142
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$45.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	4.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$4527
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$4215
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$2.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$96.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$2.55
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$3.08
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$3.51
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$12.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$15.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$3.89
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.21
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$3.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.5
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$2.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.03
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$2.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$12.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$2.77
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$14.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$4.19
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$2.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$43.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$11.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$66.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$64.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$102
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$899
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$17263

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 Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1839
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2189
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1674
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1848
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1942
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1864
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1906
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1832
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1926
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1914
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1903
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1928
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1915
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1913
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1918
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1451
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1929
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1917
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1905
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$2058
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1772
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1870
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1852
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1816
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1863
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1828
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1905
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1901
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1828
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1856
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1921
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1874
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1937
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2051
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1861
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1817
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1829
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1702
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1892
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1875