Cost of living comparison

Isle of Man

compared to

Belgium

Brussels vs. Douglas Cost of Living Summary

Brussels is 1.7% cheaper than Douglas.

Restaurants: pay 5.9% more in Brussels
Groceries: pay 3.0% more in Brussels
Transportation: pay 11.2% less in Brussels
Housing: pay 1.9% more in Brussels
Childcare: pay 19.4% less in Brussels
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.1% less in Brussels
Clothing: pay 21.9% more in Brussels

The cost of clothing, restaurants, groceries, and housing in Brussels are more expensive than in Douglas. Expenses including entertainment and sports, childcare, and transportation are lower in Brussels.

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Brussels vs. Douglas Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Brussels instead of Douglas, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.9% more for restaurants

	Douglas	Brussels
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$27.75 £20.96	$22.39 €19.99	-19.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.89 £8.98	$15.12 €13.49	+27.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.71 £2.04	$3.73 €3.33	+37.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.12 £1.60	$3.11 €2.78	+46.6%
Average			+5.9%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.0% more for groceries

	Douglas	Brussels
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 £1.99	$2.75 €2.45	+4.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.01 £3.03	$8.91 €7.95	+122.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.41 £7.11	$5.00 €4.46	-46.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.30 £4.00	$5.29 €4.72	-0.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 £2.93	$5.97 €5.33	+54.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 £1.02	$1.40 €1.25	+2.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 £0.62	$1.09 €0.97	+33.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 £1.31	$1.27 €1.13	-27.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 £1.22	$1.87 €1.67	+16.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 £1.02	$1.14 €1.02	-15.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.35 £1.02	$1.00 €0.89	-26.0%
Average			+3.0%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.2% less for transportation

	Douglas	Brussels
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.35 £5.55	$7.99 €7.13	+8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$96.91 £73.18	$62.71 €55.97	-35.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$43,752.78 £33,042.14	$35,462.03 €31,654.04	-18.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.65 £12.57	$21.27 €18.99	+27.8%
Average			-11.2%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.9% more for housing

	Douglas	Brussels
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.49 £54.74	$51.88 €46.31	-28.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,233.89 £931.84	$1,339.95 €1,196.06	+8.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,068.05 £806.59	$1,154.19 €1,030.25	+8.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$261.61 £197.57	$215.91 €192.73	-17.5%
Average			+1.9%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of housing

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pay 19.4% less for childcare

	Douglas	Brussels
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,739.89 £1,313.97	$1,603.72 €1,431.51	-7.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$52,196.76 £39,419.04	$36,825.21 €32,870.85	-29.4%
Average			-19.4%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Douglas	Brussels
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.54 £4.94	$5.60 €5.00	-14.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.01 £3.79	$4.44 €3.97	-11.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.46 £16.97	$13.44 €11.99	-40.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.75 £48.90	$32.93 €29.39	-49.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.86 £11.98	$16.68 €14.89	+5.2%
Average			-23.1%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.9% more for clothing

	Douglas	Brussels
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$99.11 £74.85	$101.94 €91.00	+2.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.60 £33.68	$46.03 €41.09	+3.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.22 £83.99	$109.64 €97.87	-1.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.38 £52.39	$146.15 €130.46	+110.7%
Average			+21.9%

Douglas vs. Brussels - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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