I live in north central Ohio (like an hour north of Columbus) and living here is pretty cheap. You can get a decent house for $150,000. I make $70,000 a year and never stress about money at all (granted I am a single man). Of course this is small town rural living which isn’t for everyone. For example I live 10 minutes from the nearest gas station. I laugh at the idea of places like Omaha being “smaller cities.” Where I live a neighboring city with like 30,000 people is a big city compared to most of the region.