] Is this because a) the Dashwoods, though relatively poor have better family connections than the Bennets, [snip]

] Or am I just way off base?

You're not off base at all. You've spotted that there was something else in the status game in JA's period apart from money and rank, namely connections, which we often overlook, but in those days could be just as important as wealth and rank in determining your place on the social scale.

Follow this link to an earlier thread on the topic which explains things in more detail.