At first, I didn’t think this was a good use of “apples-to-oranges,” but now that I think about it, I think it does work. At first, I thought you were comparing living standards between two countries — that seems like comparing “like items.” However, I think you mean that the comparison was between a middle- or higher-income country versus a very low-income country. In this case, it’s sometimes a good idea to explain why you think something is an apples-to-oranges comparison. For example, you could say: “The vast majority felt it was an apples-to-oranges comparison because those other countries don’t have developed infrastructure and have never had a high standard of living, like we once had.”

Exactly!