New figures from the Belgian statistics agency StatBel show that both Tervuren and Kraainem feature in the Top 10 of Belgian municipalities with the highest earners. Wezembeek-Oppem is the third Flemish municipality in the list that also includes Sint-Pieters-Woluwe in Brussels. The other six municipalities are all to be found in Luxembourg Province and that has a lot to do with the proximity of financial hub, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Believe it or not but the village of Attert, in southern Luxembourg Province had the highest median income of Belgium in 2022: some 42,211 euros. The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. In other words, exactly half the population earns more than the median income and the other half less.
Working in Luxembourg boosts income
Attert is located in Belgium near the border with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. That location immediately explains why median income is so high there.
‘60 per cent of Attert's residents work in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg because that’s where they can earn more,’ says political journalist Christophe Deborsu. ‘Life in Belgium is cheaper than in the Grand Duchy and that explains why so many Luxembourgers choose to live in Belgium and work on the other side of the border. It's a win-win situation for them.’
According to Mr Deborsu, this is good news for Belgian municipalities, as everyone who comes to live in Belgium pays municipal taxes.
Yet there is also a downside. ‘You, of course, have the gigantic traffic jams towards the Grand Duchy, but the biggest problem is staff leaving’.
‘The demand for care staff, for example, remains high. Many cross the border to work and earn more in Luxembourg. That means they are no longer available to work in Belgian care centres.’
Luxembourg Province has the highest number of towns with high-earners
Attert is not the only municipality in Luxembourg Province to feature in the Top 10 list. No fewer than six of Belgium's municipalities with the highest earners are in that province. Besides Attert (€42,211), the list includes Messancy (€37,226), Etalle (€34,978), Saint-Léger (€34,924), Arlon (€34,822) and Habay (€34,120).
The municipalities of Kraainem (€36,531), Tervuren (€34,814), Wezembeek-Oppem (€34,702) in Flanders and Sint-Pieters-Woluwe (€34,690) in the Brussels Capital Region complete that Top 10.
Sint Joost in the Brussels Capital Region dangles at the bottom of the list with median incomes with a figure of only 19,288 euros..