I'm in Spanish Fork, UT. We live on 3 acres. We have our own well with water rights for the home and livestock. We used to have more, for field irrigation, but we did not use those water shares, and in Utah you either use your rights or lose them, so we sold them to the city. Water rights often come with property - they are part of the real estate purchase. They can also be bought and sold like real estate, and if you watch public announcements, there are occasional auctions. Their cost depends on the source of water - it varies greatly.
We mostly have focused on getting the property fixed up, and getting animals running over the past 2.5 years. Many people bite off more than they can chew, but I have a rule that we take on one new kind of animal or food procution at a time, and learn it well before adding more. It slows down the process, but I have seen too many people crash and burn by trying to do everything all at once. So for now, we have a flock of chickens that gives us more eggs than we know what to do with. We have bees for honey, and goats, which give us all the dairy we need, as well as some meat and fiber. We have fruit trees. This winter we are getting drop irrigation installed through a few dozen raised garden beds, so our veggie and produce production should be up to speed next year, hopefully. And we may start up a 2nd chicken flock for meat. I expect we have 2 more years of building out our property before we are truly self-sufficient.
I work full-time for a single company. We are a SaaS companies that has no office, and everyone works from home. Finding the job was a lucky break, but once I had the job, they could care less where I live, so I found a place I like and moved there. The job has its ups and downs, like any job does, but it is hard to argue with working from home, wherever and whenever you want. That being said, one of the main reasons I am not farther from Provo and SLC is that it is a nice safety net to know that I could get a job and go back to the commuting life if I ever needed to.
I go into Provo regularly - it is the closest Home Depot, as well as the closest place for lots of retails shopping and ethnic food. And it is only 15 minutes away, so coming from a larger city, it doesn't even feel like much of a trip. But we also do a lot in town - it is not that tiny, over 30K people. There is a movie theatre in town, groceries, ranch stores, some restaurants, etc. We head to Provo probably once a week for other things, up to Orem for a pet store and art supply stores maybe once a month. And Salt Lake? I really thought I would go to Salt Lake more than I do, but I have not been there in a long time. Maybe once a year for an IKEA run, or for a fancy date night with my wife.
The biggest drawback is social - living in a small town makes it hard to build up a large group of friends. It is easier on me because I am married with kids, and don't need much more than that. You also have less diversity around here. It takes a conscious awareness to try to expose my children to more that the world has to offer.