Brussels vs Rotterdam - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Brussels	Rotterdam
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1869	$2013
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4554	$4464
🏠 One person rent	$1085	$1251
🏘️ Family rent	$1927	$1909
🍽️ Food expenses	$557	$484
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.1	$157
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3070	$3795
😷 Air quality	Good	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	96	94
😀 Quality of life	89	93
🏙️ Population	189K	592K

The cost of living in Brussels is 7% less expensive than in Rotterdam. Cities ranked 2147th and 1756th ($1869 vs $2013) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th in Belgium and the Netherlands, respectively. Check Belgium vs the Netherlands comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.9 months in Rotterdam. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Rotterdam ranked 3rd in the Netherlands, while ranked 148th and 54th 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 Rotterdam infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/brussels/rotterdam.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brussels vs Rotterdam infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brussels/rotterdam" target="_blank">Brussels vs Rotterdam - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brussels vs Rotterdam

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

	Brussels	Rotterdam
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18	$14.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.3	$63.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.38	$5.49
☕ Cappuccino	$3.91	$3.18
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$968	$1267
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$834	$1009
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1848	$1849
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1555	$1585
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$150
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$258	$231
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.2	$40.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	3.81%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4416	$5063
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3736	$3486
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$4.08
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.2	$73.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$21.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.88	$2.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.49	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$2.73
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.29	$4.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$13.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.2	$16
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.72	$1.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.97	$2.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.74	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$2.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.8
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.67
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.11	$3.05
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.73	$7.04
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.52	$1.48
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.76	$9.49
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$4.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.75	$5.68
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.97	$2.26
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.87	$2.41
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.9	$33.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.9	$13.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40.3	$37.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.8	$20.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$101	$68.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$88.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$978	$1521
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23098	$12166

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	$1682
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1524
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1659
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1652
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1593
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1619
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1644
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1669
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1599
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1743
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1648
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1825
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1640
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1567
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1645
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1613
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1544
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1630
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1619
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1553
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1575
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1581
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1678
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1618
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1469
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1563
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1568
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1533
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1484
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1517
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1539
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1426
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1536
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1536
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1511
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1413
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1596
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1631
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1570
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1650

Cities near Rotterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.4 mi	Ridderkerk	$1890
13 km or 8 mi	Delft	$1804
19 km or 12 mi	Leidschendam	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	The Hague	$1886
23 km or 14 mi	Sliedrecht	$1873
25 km or 16 mi	Scheveningen	$1836
26 km or 16 mi	Leiden	$2205
27 km or 17 mi	Oegstgeest	$2000
41 km or 25 mi	Etten-Leur	$1741
43 km or 27 mi	Breda	$1822
43 km or 27 mi	Roosendaal	$1832
47 km or 29 mi	Utrecht	$2055
49 km or 30 mi	Bergen op Zoom	$1854
50 km or 31 mi	Zandvoort	$2135
52 km or 32 mi	Haarlem	$2465
54 km or 34 mi	Zaltbommel	$1877
55 km or 34 mi	Zeist	$1939
56 km or 35 mi	Tilburg	$1833
59 km or 36 mi	Amsterdam	$2545
59 km or 37 mi	Hilversum	$1894
60 km or 38 mi	IJmuiden	$2092
61 km or 38 mi	Hoogstraten	$1498
62 km or 39 mi	Goes	$1981
63 km or 39 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1876
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$1919
67 km or 42 mi	Huizen	$1897
72 km or 45 mi	Almere	$1647
73 km or 45 mi	Purmerend	$2001
74 km or 46 mi	Veenendaal	$1841
74 km or 46 mi	Turnhout	$1376
76 km or 47 mi	Middelburg	$1965
79 km or 49 mi	Antwerp	$1650
81 km or 51 mi	Wageningen	$1756
82 km or 51 mi	Beveren	$1631
82 km or 51 mi	Ede	$1818
83 km or 52 mi	Uden	$1909
84 km or 52 mi	Mortsel	$1539
85 km or 53 mi	Veldhoven	$1971
87 km or 54 mi	Herentals	$1413
88 km or 54 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1413