The most frustrating part for me was the locals encountered in a rural setting are often low income. There can be significant hostility and jealousy once they

The most frustrating part for me was the locals encountered in a rural setting are often low income. There can be significant hostility and jealousy once they learn you're an overpaid techie city slicker. When socializing I've found there's an ongoing source of friction whenever it comes to conversations involving employment opportunities or money/expenses. It gets old when stuff like mentioning some employment options with the neighbor you occasionally have beers with, is met with them just bitching about never having had such opportunities. That evolves into something like folks viewing you as rich, privileged, and living the easy life where six-figure jobs fall from the sky. Plus you'll surely receive a good bit of blame for any increasing area prices/gentrification. But it also got old to hear nothing but talk of funding rounds, term sheets, vesting schedules, peppered with whatever tech buzzword salad of the month, whenever I frequented cafes in the SF bay area. It should be noted though that practically anyone I interacted with there would have been able to speak casually about which FAANG is the least evil employer without risk of animosity, even the barristas. Another thing to consider when rural is because of the low population size/density, it doesn't take very many offended locals to become effectively isolated. And in my experience rural locals aren't exactly the most sophisticated or nuanced when it comes to understanding one another. YMMV