Brussels vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brussels	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2030	$3957
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4894	$8247
🏠 One person rent	$1166	$2805
🏘️ Family rent	$1999	$4446
🍽️ Food expenses	$628	$765
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3313	$6139
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	96	87
😀 Quality of life	91	91
🏙️ Population	196K	1.01M

The cost of living in Brussels is 49% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 1939th and 8th ($2030 vs $3957) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th 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 Jose, United States. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs San Jose, United States ranked 25th in the United States, while ranked 121st and 126th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Brussels vs San Jose, United States

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

	Brussels	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$24.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80	$95
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.7	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$9.09
☕ Cappuccino	$4.38	$5.96
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.4	$3.6
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1112	$3010
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$903	$2448
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2002	$4541
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1605	$4005
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$262	$259
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.2	$74.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.77%	6.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5037	$8786
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4002	$8977
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.5	$90
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.4	$24.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.06	$1.38
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.66
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.7	$4.78
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$4.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$5.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$21.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$13.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.4	$21.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$5.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$5.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$3.55
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$3.1
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.73
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.5	$3.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.36	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$2.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$11.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.04	$6.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$6.96
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.3	$2.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$111
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.3	$17.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38	$128
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.2	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$59.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$100
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1423	$1815
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19621	$23151

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 San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3460
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3625
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4184
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3368
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3217
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2928
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3345
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3387
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3194
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3808
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3172
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3616
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3234
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3356
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3357
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3075
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3728
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3582
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3357
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3486
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3073
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3029
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3698
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3577
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3588
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2822
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3088
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2822
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3797
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2968
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3043
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3310
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2848
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3276
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3873
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3261
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3559
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2088
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3252
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3273