Nobody wants to pay. Outside of tech hubs, companies don't seem to value software devs. I guarantee that if your company was paying rates competitive to the ma

Nobody wants to pay. Outside of tech hubs, companies don't seem to value software devs. I guarantee that if your company was paying rates competitive to the major cities - not "considering the low cost of living", but actually competing on the dollar - there would be more interest. You have to pay programmers enough to mitigate the risk that there just aren't as many jobs in those areas and there aren't as many opportunities for professional development. Instead, everyone wants to look at the cost of living in SF/NYC, and claim that it's such a better deal to move to $midwest_city, even for less money. No. The environment matters. Pay up to compensate. Check Meetup.com. Are there large, active groups meeting regularly for a variety of languages and technologies in your area? Think about what devs have to give up when they leave a city with a thriving programmer community to come to your company.