Brussels vs Luxembourg for couples

Brussels, in Belgium, and Luxembourg are about 187 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. Brussels leads on cost; Luxembourg on safety, healthcare and internet speed.

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Side by side

Factor	Brussels	Luxembourg
Country	Belgium	Luxembourg
Size	Large: 1 to 5 million people	Smaller: under 250,000 people
Setting	Near the coast	Inland
Est. cost for a couple	€3,748 a month	€4,187 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	11°C
Rainfall	808 mm a year	832 mm a year
Safety	56 / 100	80 / 100
Healthcare	79 / 100	82 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~100 Mbps	~150 Mbps
Main languages	Dutch, French	Luxembourgish, French, German
English	Good English	Good English
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	From $1,740 a month	From $3,221 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

Brussels is cheaper: we estimate about €3,748 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,187 in Luxembourg. That is €439 a month, or 10%, less.

Taxes

A tie: Belgium and Luxembourg 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 832 mm in Luxembourg.

Safety

Luxembourg is the safer pick: Luxembourg scores 80 out of 100 on safety, 24 points above Belgium (56).

Healthcare

Luxembourg has the stronger healthcare: Luxembourg scores 82 out of 100 on healthcare, 3 points above Belgium (79).

Internet

Luxembourg has faster home internet: about 150 Mbps median fixed download against about 100 Mbps in Brussels.

Language

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

Residency and visas

Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,740 a month in Belgium and $3,221 in Luxembourg. 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 Luxembourg.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts cost (€3,748 against €4,187 a month) first, Brussels comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (80 against 56 out of 100), healthcare (82 against 79 out of 100) and internet speed (150 Mbps against 100 Mbps), Luxembourg does.

Size differs too: Brussels is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Luxembourg a smaller one (under 250,000 people). Brussels is near the coast; Luxembourg is inland.

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

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