People that say it's 3x to 10x seem to think they deserve to live in the same 5,000 sq ft mansion that they have in nowhere, Indiana.

Then you are comparing lifestyles, not locations. You can live car-free with roommates in a rundown apartment in an unsexy neighborhood 60+ public-transit minutes from work in a major world city like Chicago for less than $1k/mo (including rent, food, transit fare, and basic entertainment). Nowhere, Indiana would be even less.

Many, many young people exploit this fact to try and launch careers in un-lucrative fields like arts and academia.

Ah, so cost of living comparisons shouldn't use the same lifestyle in both places, got it.