There's the location choices you describe (city vs suburb vs middle of nowhere) and there's location choices around large city vs smaller city that's still sign

There's the location choices you describe (city vs suburb vs middle of nowhere) and there's location choices around large city vs smaller city that's still significantly larger then "a liquor store, some off brand shopping market, a burger joint, and a 20 year outdated public library". Especially if/when remote work and non-location based salaries become the norm. I recently had a recruiter try to convince me to move back to the midwest by throwing numbers about how median housing prices were over $500k less in my hometown then where I am now on the west coast. I don't need a house with my lifestyle right now, but I'll probably just move back if/when that changes. I enjoy living in a west coast city but not at the cost of 500k-1mil additional housing costs for a smaller place with less land. I'd be just as content moving back and using some of that extra money to travel or fund a long-term sabbatical.