Brussels vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Brussels	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1816	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4478	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$1024	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$1880	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$567	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.5	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2931	$5859
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	89	94
🏙️ Population	196K	690K

The cost of living in Brussels is 42% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 2354th and 96th ($1816 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 86th 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 1.9 months in Washington. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Washington ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 190th and 43rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Washington infographic

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

Prices in Brussels vs Washington

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

	Brussels	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.9	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76.1	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.8	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.16	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$770	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1932	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1489	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$161	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$250	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.7	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.61%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4675	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4207	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.62	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.2	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.8	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.79	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.19	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.21	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.6	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.7	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.54	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.78	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.2	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$38.9	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.2	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.5	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$975	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19505	$24653

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 Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979