Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$1095
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$2561
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$856
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$285
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$550
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	96	95
😀 Quality of life	91	72
🏙️ Population	196K	6.21M

The cost of living in Brussels is 85% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 1939th and 5029th ($2030 vs $1095) 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 1.6 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 2nd in Brazil, while ranked 121st and 2767th 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/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	$21.2	$6.94
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$34.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$7.83
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$2.4
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$2.75
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$1.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$657
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$408
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$1011
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$621
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$89.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$137
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	11.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$2589
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$1468
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$0.97
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$50.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$8.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$1.6
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$2.24
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$9.47
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$4.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$9.43
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$2.48
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.7
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$1.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.14
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$1.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$8.15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$1.19
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$2.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$3.95
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$3.36
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.21
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$26.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$7.19
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$50.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$7.98
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$42.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$70.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$554
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$12842

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 Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$824
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$651
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$688
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$858
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$617
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$805
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$623
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$488
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$581
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$607
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$586
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$737
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$531
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$623
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$562
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$655
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$668
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$686
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$568
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$729
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$682
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$634
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$696
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$566
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$584
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$567
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$663
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$576
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$671
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$667
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$670
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$684
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$610
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$695
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$711
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$577
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$519
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$884
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$634