Brussels vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Brussels	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1816	$3428
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4478	$7974
🏠 One person rent	$1024	$2311
🏘️ Family rent	$1880	$4175
🍽️ Food expenses	$567	$743
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.5	$180
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2931	$5531
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	96	87
😀 Quality of life	89	91
🏙️ Population	196K	1.39M

The cost of living in Brussels is 47% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 2354th and 36th ($1816 vs $3428) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 32nd in Belgium and the United States, respectively. Check Belgium vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Brussels compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs San Diego ranked 13th in the United States, while ranked 190th and 95th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs San Diego infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs San Diego

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

	Brussels	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.9	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76.1	$83.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.8	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.16	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$6.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.96
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$2424
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$770	$1978
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1932	$4583
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1489	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$161	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$269
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.7	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.61%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4675	$9086
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4207	$7072
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.62	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.2	$72.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.8	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.79	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$3.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$4.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.19	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$15.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$13.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$18.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$4.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$4.32
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$4.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$2.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$2.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.21	$3.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.6	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$2.85
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.7	$12.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$17.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.54	$13.1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$5.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.78	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.2	$75
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$130
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.2	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.5	$59.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$975	$1785
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19505	$28706

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1651
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1663
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1667
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1692
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1580
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1647
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1642
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1660
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1539
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1685
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1618
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$1788
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1626
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1556
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1615
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1594
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1541
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1607
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1585
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1536
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1599
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1560
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1663
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1683
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1446
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1492
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1537
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1523
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1461
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1488
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1530
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1362
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1509
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1520
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1475
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1514
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1578
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1613
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1488
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1640

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3065
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2962
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2914
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3017
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2916
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2911
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2964
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3043
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1047
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2898
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2930
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3124
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$912
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$910
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3279
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2917
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3273
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2834
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3199
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2907
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2637
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2945
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3109
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2936
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2732
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2950
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2763
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3188
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2996
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2578
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$880
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2694
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3496
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3082
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2971
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3326
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3020
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2764
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2682
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2759