There are a lot of opportunities in health care and marketing in and around KC. The $85K figure in post above for Sr. is on the low side. Cost of living is a huge plus. Rents adjacent to downtown KCMO can be had for $1,100 per month. I think the average home price in metro area is about $200K. There are lots of pockets of middle-class neighborhoods. Gas is $2.30 per gallon today, which is $2 cheaper than CA. Google fiber has this town wired, 7 years later they are still laying fiber. Two months ago I saw a crew 20 miles from downtown laying conduit for fiber, this would be on the edges of the city, what you might call semi-rural.