LA has by far the worst wages-to-rent ratio in the entire nation so I'm a bit skeptical of you claim here. Also note that the other post said a new apartment.

You are welcome to peruse craigslist and fact check my claim yourself. I do note the poster said new apartment, that poster was me. It is still surprising to me that for the money spent living in Columbus, you can live in LA. Even if the acommodations are a little bit older in the LA example, it's not like you are getting a multibedroom apartment for the price of a studio in LA or anything. Plus minimum wage is $15 in LA and $9.30 in Columbus and more skilled jobs go up from there accordingly (SWE in columbus make like 70-80k probably). Here's a studio clocking in under $1300 in LA in Koreatown, which would be very convenient if you worked in hollywood or downtown LA:

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/apa/d/los-angeles-stud...

Apartments.com says theres like hundreds of studios available at this price range across LA:

https://www.apartments.com/los-angeles-ca/under-1300/

And in a very favorable neighborhood. You can get much cheaper rent in an "up and coming" neighborhood.