The four municipalities with the lowest median income in the country are located within the Brussels-Capital Region, according to figures published this week by Belgium’s national statistics office.
Statbel's report is based on data from 2023, which has been used to calculate each municipality's 'administrative equivalised disposable income'.
This statistic takes into account both the taxable and non-taxable income of each household, including wages, social security allowances, pensions, rental income, and capital gains. The data is then weighted according to the number of people living in each household and their ages.
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode sits at the foot of the national standings, with a median income of €20,815. Molenbeek, Anderlecht, and Koekelberg. Schaerbeek and the City of Brussels also appear in the bottom ten, which also includes the Walloon cities of Charleroi and Liège:
- Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (Brussels) - €20,815
- Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (Brussels) - €21,279
- Anderlecht (Brussels) - €21,975
- Koekelberg (Brussels) - €22,781
- Farciennes (Hainaut) - €23,127
- Charleroi (Hainaut) - €23,259
- Schaerbeek (Brussels) - €23,392
- City of Brussels (Brussels) - €23,423
- Dison (Liège) - €23,705
- Liège (Liège) - €24,020
All six of the capital region's communes were also in the bottom ten in last year's report, which analysed income data for 2022.
The highest median incomes in 2023, meanwhile, are found in the Walloon province of Luxembourg. These municipalities are mostly located on the border with (the Duchy of) Luxembourg around the provincial capital of Arlon, which itself occupies fourth place with a median income of €36,845.
Belgium’s southernmost region, which already occupied six of the top ten positions in 2022, now makes up the entirety of the nationwide top seven, with Attert topping the standings at an average income of €44,066. Lying directly north of Arlon, the border municipality is made up of four villages and has a population of just under 5,000.
The rest of the top ten includes municipalities in Flanders: one in East Flanders and two in Flemish Brabant. While Woluwe Saint-Pierre had the ninth-highest median income in the country in 2022, the capital region is no longer represented in the latest ranking:
- Attert (Luxembourg) - €44,066
- Messancy (Luxembourg) - €40,263
- St-Léger (Luxembourg) - €36,963
- Arlon (Luxembourg) - €36,845
- Étalle (Luxembourg) - €36,565
- Habay (Luxembourg) - €36,487
- Fauvillers (Luxembourg) - €36,313
- Kraainem (Flemish Brabant) - €36,078
- De Pinte (East Flanders) - €35,750
- Oud-Heverlee (Flemish Brabant) - €35,744
There is also a slightly greater disparity between the highest- and lowest-income municipalities in the country (in both reports, these were Attert and Saint-Josse, respectively). Saint-Josse's median income has increased from €19,288 to €20,815, while in the case of the Luxembourgeois village, this figure now stands at €44,066, up from €42,211.
You can find your municipality's median income for 2023, as well as that of previous years, using Statbel's interactive map below:
Statbel's latest report also analyses the risk of 'monetary poverty' of each municipality of the country, on the basis of the same income data. This is calculated according to the proportion of the population with an income below the national poverty threshold.
The capital region’s municipalities have the highest proportion in this metric, with a third of Molenbeek’s population at risk of monetary poverty according to the report. Molenbeek, Anderlecht, and Koekelberg are also above the 25% mark.
Woluwe Saint-Pierre has the lowest risk of income poverty in the Brussels-Capital Region at 9.3%, followed by Auderghem, Woluwe Saint-Lambert, Watermael-Boitsfort, and Uccle. All of the capital's communes are among the 101 of Belgium's 565 municipalities which have a risk of income poverty higher than the 5% mark.
The lowest rates in the country were found in Zemst and Galmaarden, in which only 3.4% of the population is at risk of poverty. Both are in the province of Flemish Brabant, although the latter has been a part of the new municipality of Pajottegem since this year following a merger with several of its neighbouring villages.
The interactive map below displays the risk of poverty for each municipality:
In a separate report produced last month, Statbel used the European Union's indicators, including income as well as employment status and factors of material deprivation, to estimate that 18.3% of Belgians were at risk of 'poverty and social exclusion'. In Brussels, this proportion more than doubles, reaching 37.3%.
