Young people move out to the sticks in many industries, especially at the start of their careers (for example, teachers, doctors, nurses, and police often have

Young people move out to the sticks in many industries, especially at the start of their careers (for example, teachers, doctors, nurses, and police often have to start out in small communities to build experience). I don't think age is going to be the limiting factor in attracting workers. I know lots of young people in technical fields with a similar view: they hate the expense of the city, but there is no way for them to move out to rural communities and still do the same type of work. The limiting factors, I think, are more (1) lack of VC interest in funding something where the company is going to be based in the middle of nowhere, and (2) the lack of job security for tech workers who choose to live somewhere like that. On the first point, VCs are very attached to the orbit of their cities. Silicon Valley is of course the big innovation centre, but basically any city above around 250k people now has at least a small tech industry with affiliated venture capital firms. Unfortunately, I can't see VCs interested in something where if they want to go see their investment they have to go get on a plane, then rent a car, and drive a couple of hours. So, any successful rural tech startup is going to need to be at least partially bootstrapped. The second point is the inherent risk in moving somewhere like that for a job, especially a job as volatile as a tech startup. You move out there, buy a house, maybe start a family - and then the company folds or downsizes. You basically have no choice at that point but to uproot and move, leaving all your friends and your home behind. Of course, you could also maybe spin this as a positive point: the "company man" is considered dead these days, especially so in high tech. Nobody sticks around anymore, there's very little loyalty on both the part of the employer and employee. However, in an environment where you're literally the only tech employer in town, you would probably get employees who actually stuck with the company and stayed committed.