I'm coming from the same position you are. I live in a small town far from any metropolitan area. (The closest one on that list is Atlanta and that's a 5-hour drive.) I too see the salaries I could pull in and imagine what I could do with the extra money. But after a little more research I discover that $20K raise would actually be a $40K cut due to cost of living. Add on top of that the pain of living in a metro area. It's great for some folks but I'll take my easy 5 minute drive to work over a hour+ daily commute any day.