It can be but it can be really hard to sort it out especially in online retail today. Some brands will offer a quality that's cut above the rest but often as time goes on and the profit motive kicks in and/or they get bought out, they'll start cutting corners and start coasting on the name recognition. Also there's the question of where they are made/produced. If you go down the rabbit hole on this enough you will actually find Levi's are considered extremely right quality depending on where they come from and in fact there's entire groups devoted to keeping track of this info to help people find the good stuff.

Also it depends on what kind of qualities you're looking for in jeans. Personally I just stick with banana republic because they have a nice blend of fabrics that are fairly breathable and also hella stretchy. I work from home in the city so I don't really need jeans that can withstand the elements. I just need want to be comfortable and look nice.