Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brussels	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$1013
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4988	$2476
🏠 One person rent	$1165	$502
🏘️ Family rent	$2046	$806
🍽️ Food expenses	$658	$272
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.4	$151
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3697	$491
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	96	95
😀 Quality of life	92	67
🏙️ Population	196K	6.21M

The cost of living in Brussels is 104% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 1872nd and 5559th ($2065 vs $1013) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Belgium and Brazil, respectively. Check Belgium vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Brussels compared to 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Rio de Janeiro ranked 4th in Brazil, while ranked 99th and 4845th 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/rio-de-janeiro.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brussels/rio-de-janeiro" target="_blank">Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro

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

	Brussels	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$24.7	$6.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.5	$31.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.7	$6.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.48	$2.13
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$2.56
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.46	$1.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1092	$574
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$909	$353
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1988	$959
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1675	$578
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$160	$85.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$133
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$58.9	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5177	$2256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$1317
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.95	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$64.8	$48
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.7	$8.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$1.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$2.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$9.04
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$4.28
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21	$8.72
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$1.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$1.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$1.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.64	$1.73
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.72	$7.51
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.5	$1.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$2.27
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$3.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.15	$3.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.52	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.37	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.9	$27.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.7	$7.13
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.2	$48.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.9	$7.96
👖 Brand Jeans	$104	$44.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$76.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1225	$550
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19894	$13739

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 Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$792
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$648
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$681
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$851
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$632
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$782
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$537
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$614
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$482
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$576
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$600
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$579
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$733
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$533
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$600
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$548
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$652
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$679
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$672
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$565
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$709
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$678
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$684
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$585
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$568
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$564
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$656
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$667
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$645
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$643
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$679
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$594
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$679
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$702
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$562
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$505
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$877
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$631