There might be jobs in these areas, but they won't pay NYC- or SF-level salaries.
You're absolutely right.
Those cities actually pay better than NYC when you adjust for cost of living[1][2][3]. In every ranking, there are few major cities worse to be a software engineer than NYC.
And OP isn't even close to making median or average salary for NYC. S/he's close to entry-level.
The cost of living in NYC is unjustifiable, which is probably why people are leaving[4] in droves.
1. https://www.codementor.io/blog/best-cities-software-engineer...
2. https://insights.dice.com/2019/02/28/salary-compare-income-c...
3. https://www.economicmodeling.com/2019/04/10/buying-power-cos...
4. https://gothamist.com/news/census-report-new-york-losing-new...