And those places with cheap rents have no jobs.
And no culture.
That's fine if you stay indoors all the time and are retired or can work from home...
That is absolutely NOT true.
The US is a very large country and there is SO much more to it than just NYC and LA....life and culture is not only at the extreme coasts.
There are plenty of jobs....GOOD paying jobs for areas with much lower costs of living....people are actually friendlier and easier to meet and make new friends with outside of those urban hell holes you seem to promote.
You could not drag me or pay me enough to live in NYC or CHicago or Los Angeles .....hell not even Houston.
Do you even live in the US?? For some reason I keep thinking you do not....and if not, you really don't know of what you speak.
There is a large breadth of cultures across the US and it's easy to find one that fits you and your lifestyle...especially if you want to have a family and raise them with proper values and education. You don't have to make $500K/yr to have a nice house, and all with very comfy living outside of the big urban cities.....especially when you outgrow clubbing every night, etc.