Cost of living comparison
compared to
Belgium vs. New York Cost of Living Summary
Belgium is 24.6% cheaper than New York.
Belgium vs. New York Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Belgium instead of New York, you would:
pay 6.8% more for restaurants
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.61
|
$21.51
€19.21
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.15
|
$12.72
€11.35
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.60
|
$3.15
€2.81
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.95
|
$2.69
€2.41
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of restaurants
pay 25.9% less for groceries
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.79
|
$2.56
€2.28
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.62
|
$7.21
€6.43
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.20
|
$4.74
€4.23
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.80
|
$3.84
€3.43
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.68
|
$5.29
€4.72
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$1.23
€1.10
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$0.99
€0.88
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.16
|
$1.12
€1.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.49
|
$1.26
€1.13
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.48
|
$0.99
€0.88
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.53
|
$0.79
€0.70
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of groceries
pay 8.5% more for transportation
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.00
|
$7.52
€6.72
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$99.85
|
$50.17
€44.79
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,323.33
|
$34,462.94
€30,771.86
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.12
|
$26.26
€23.45
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of transportation
pay 45.3% less for housing
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$67.35
|
$51.15
€45.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,049.97
|
$940.80
€840.04
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,695.08
|
$826.78
€738.23
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.44
|
$167.89
€149.91
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of housing
pay 36.6% less for childcare
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,922.82
|
$923.48
€824.58
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,489.62
|
$22,984.85
€20,523.10
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of childcare
pay 24.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.72
|
$4.94
€4.41
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.48
|
$4.03
€3.59
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.10
|
$12.32
€11.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$61.08
|
$36.18
€32.30
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.30
|
$14.23
€12.71
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 25.3% more for clothing
|
New York
|
Belgium
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.80
|
$100.04
€89.32
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.51
|
$43.19
€38.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$92.29
|
$96.42
€86.09
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$113.37
|
$142.81
€127.51
|
|
New York vs. Belgium - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this
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