Your average NYC dweller probably wouldn't even live in Jackson if the rent was totally free. The physical quality of the house's construction, etc, is almost totally irrelevant.
The point made upthread was that no German would consider a life in Jackson equivalent to the life they could have in Germany. That's true, but it's probably mostly true because most people in Jackson don't speak German or eat the same food. And the converse is also true; someone from Jackson would probably find Berlin cramped and invasive. That's why you have to control for cultural stuff.
(This post is now getting lots of debunking comments that I think are more sound than "it's ridiculous to even compare the two because Germans would scoff at Jackson").