Brussels vs Hamburg for couples

Brussels, in Belgium, and Hamburg, in Germany, are about 488 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Hamburg leads on safety and residency rules.

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Side by side

Factor	Brussels	Hamburg
Country	Belgium	Germany
Size	Large: 1 to 5 million people	Large: 1 to 5 million people
Setting	Near the coast	Coastal
Est. cost for a couple	€3,748 a month	€3,762 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	11°C
Rainfall	808 mm a year	776 mm a year
Safety	56 / 100	65 / 100
Healthcare	79 / 100	79 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~100 Mbps	~90 Mbps
Main languages	Dutch, French	German
English	Good English	Good English
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Comparatively open
Self-funded income route	From $1,740 a month	From $1,270 a month
Visa-free short visits	93 of 198 passports	93 of 198 passports

Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.

Factor by factor

Cost of living

Close on cost: we estimate about €3,748 a month for a couple living centrally in Brussels and €3,762 in Hamburg.

Taxes

A tie: Belgium and Germany both sit in our high tax tier.

Climate

Both average 11°C over the year. Rainfall is similar: about 808 mm a year in Brussels and 776 mm in Hamburg.

Safety

Hamburg is the safer pick: Germany scores 65 out of 100 on safety, 9 points above Belgium (56).

Healthcare

Tied: Belgium and Germany both score 79 out of 100 on healthcare.

Internet

Close: about 100 Mbps median fixed download in Brussels and about 90 Mbps in Hamburg.

Language

Main languages: Dutch, French in Brussels; German in Hamburg. English proficiency is rated the same in both: good English.

Residency and visas

Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in Germany (comparatively open) than in Belgium (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,740 a month in Belgium and $1,270 in Germany. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter Belgium visa-free and 93 can enter Germany.

Which one fits a couple

On the factors we measure, Hamburg leads on safety (65 against 56 out of 100) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions), and Brussels leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Brussels: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.

Both are large cities, but Brussels is near the coast and Hamburg is coastal.

OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Brussels, Hamburg and 913 other cities for both of you at once.

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