Cost of living comparison
compared to
Brussels vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary
Brussels is 24.0% cheaper than Washington.
Brussels vs. Washington Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Brussels instead of Washington, you would:
pay 1.3% more for restaurants
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$28.00
|
$22.39
€20.09
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$15.12
€13.56
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.17
|
$3.73
€3.34
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.64
|
$3.11
€2.79
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of restaurants
pay 24.2% less for groceries
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.11
|
$2.75
€2.47
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.53
|
$8.91
€7.99
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.95
|
$5.00
€4.48
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.64
|
$5.29
€4.75
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.63
|
$5.97
€5.36
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.17
|
$1.40
€1.25
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.06
|
$1.09
€0.98
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.27
|
$1.27
€1.14
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.64
|
$1.87
€1.68
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.29
|
$1.14
€1.02
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.73
|
$1.00
€0.89
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of groceries
pay 8.4% more for transportation
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.19
|
$7.99
€7.17
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$120.00
|
$62.71
€56.26
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,375.00
|
$35,462.03
€31,814.76
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.73
|
$21.27
€19.09
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of transportation
pay 40.7% less for housing
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.77
|
$51.88
€46.55
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,717.33
|
$1,339.95
€1,202.14
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,228.89
|
$1,154.19
€1,035.48
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$161.22
|
$215.91
€193.71
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of housing
pay 33.5% less for childcare
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,221.33
|
$1,603.72
€1,438.78
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$41,506.00
|
$36,825.21
€33,037.74
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of childcare
pay 39.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$9.00
|
$5.60
€5.02
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.15
|
$4.44
€3.99
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.94
|
$13.44
€12.05
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$114.30
|
$32.93
€29.54
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$16.68
€14.97
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 16.2% more for clothing
|
Washington
|
Brussels
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$71.42
|
$101.94
€91.46
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.11
|
$46.03
€41.30
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.50
|
$109.64
€98.36
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$125.16
|
$146.15
€131.12
|
|
Washington vs. Brussels - 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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Compare further: Washington vs. Brussels
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cost of living in United States vs. Belgium.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Belgium.
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