Brussels vs Manchester for couples

Brussels, in Belgium, and Manchester, in the United Kingdom, are about 536 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 healthcare; Manchester on getting by in English.

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Side by side

Factor	Brussels	Manchester
Country	Belgium	United Kingdom
Size	Large: 1 to 5 million people	Mid-sized: 250,000 to 1 million people
Setting	Near the coast	Coastal
Est. cost for a couple	€3,748 a month	€3,863 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	11°C
Rainfall	808 mm a year	887 mm a year
Safety	56 / 100	56 / 100
Healthcare	79 / 100	74 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~100 Mbps	~110 Mbps
Main languages	Dutch, French	English
English	Good English	English everywhere
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	From $1,740 a month	None tracked
Visa-free short visits	93 of 198 passports	35 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 €3,863 in Manchester.

Taxes

A tie: Belgium and the United Kingdom 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 887 mm in Manchester.

Safety

Tied: Belgium and the United Kingdom both score 56 out of 100 on safety.

Healthcare

Brussels has the stronger healthcare: Belgium scores 79 out of 100 on healthcare, 5 points above the United Kingdom (74).

Internet

Close: about 100 Mbps median fixed download in Brussels and about 110 Mbps in Manchester.

Language

Main languages: Dutch, French in Brussels; English in Manchester. English goes further in Manchester (English everywhere) than in Brussels (good English).

Residency and visas

Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency. Belgium has a self-funded route from about $1,740 a month in income; we track no income-based route for the United Kingdom. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter Belgium visa-free and 35 can enter the United Kingdom.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts healthcare (79 against 74 out of 100) first, Brussels comes out ahead. If the other cares more about getting by in English (English everywhere against good English), Manchester does.

Size differs too: Brussels is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Manchester a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people). Brussels is near the coast; Manchester is coastal.

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

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