I think the point is that it is absurd to suggest that a desperate poor, probably only a few hundred dollars from homelessness and death, make his life-or-death decisions based on vague, general, inaccurate, and intentionally misrepresented government statistics.
Of course, leaving the comforts of your home as a 19 year old to go to a city that he probably had very little info on, carrying with him a resume that wasn't a half of a page long, thinking he can get a job that would put a roof over his head is less absurd, right?
