Materials Engineer Salary in Belgium: What You Need to Know
Materials Engineers in Belgium earn an estimated $61,199 USD per year, which is approximately €56,303 EUR at current exchange rates. This places Belgium at #13 out of 42 countries in our global salary ranking for this occupation.
Compared to the United States, where Materials Engineers earn an estimated $98,000 USD per year, the salary in Belgium is 38% lower. This difference reflects variations in local economies, cost of living, labor market conditions, and industry demand for Materials Engineers in Belgium.
Purchasing Power and Cost of Living
While nominal salary figures provide a useful starting point, they don't tell the full story. When adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), the salary for a Materials Engineer in Belgium is equivalent to $90,284 USD. This means that after accounting for differences in the cost of goods and services, the real buying power of this salary is actually higher than the nominal figure suggests, indicating a relatively lower cost of living in Belgium.
To put this in more tangible terms, using The Economist's Big Mac Index as an informal measure of purchasing power, a Materials Engineer's annual salary in Belgium could buy approximately 10,643 Big Macs per year. This everyday comparison helps illustrate the real-world purchasing power of this salary beyond abstract currency conversions.
How Belgium Compares Globally
Among the 42 countries we track, a Materials Engineer in Belgium earns more than 71% of Materials Engineers worldwide. The highest-paying country for this role is United States at $88,200 USD, while the lowest is India at $9,798 USD.
These estimates are derived from publicly available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), OECD average wages, World Bank purchasing power parity factors, and The Economist's Big Mac Index. The salary for each country is calculated by adjusting the U.S. baseline salary using country-specific wage ratios and sector multipliers. While these figures provide a useful benchmark, actual salaries can vary significantly based on experience level, company size, specific city or region, education, and industry sector.