Many people regularly oppose this, as being inexact.
Maybe this is correct ... but: the mean income level also influences prices, e.g. for flats or groceries. Swiss prices here are exceptional. What costs 1 EUR in Germany costs 2 swiss francs there. And francs and euro are more-or-less on parity, if you exchange them. Droves of Swiss people drive to Germany (or Italy) to buy groceries. But: some people don't have a car. They can't do that.
I saw a map of Switzerland with different colors on how high the risk of poverty is estimated in which region, and clearly the french speaking parts around Genevre had a worse risk assessment than e.g. the italian or german speaking parts. You couldn't really see the Röstigraben, but you could still see a stark difference.
I don't know about the validity, but I love how Germany (as one of the richest countries in the world), is used in this comparison.