This is going to sound shallow as heck, but I can't believe that there are people that would actually want to move to some of these places. Some of them are not much more than glorified truck stops.
Unemployment rates might be low, but when considering the population of some of these places, they probably have very undiversified economies and likely have very few transplants/newcomers/outsiders. I know a person only has to find one job, but I would think being an outsider in some of these places would be a huge disadvantage, but I could be wrong.
I don't know how to describe it exactly (and I don't mean to offend), but people in some of these towns seem proud of their ignorance (or something

). Over the past couple of years, I've had the opportunity to travel CO, KS, NE, WY, MT, ID and WA pretty extensively, and this plains area (Eastern CO/W KS/W NE) has made me feel the least welcome as a traveler/outsider.
When I go to some of these towns, I'm kind of half-expecting somebody (gas station attendant, strangers, etc) to look me in the eye and say something like "What are
you doing
here, boy?" Burlington, Sterling and Holyoke, Colorado, along with Sidney and Alliance in Nebraska, and Kanorado, Colby and Oberlin in Kansas are all towns where I have felt this hard-to-describe "vibe". Anybody know what it is?
I was in Sterling yesterday, and have been there several times. Kind of feels like a step back in time. It has a cool movie theater. When driving in, the South Platte skirts the eastern edge, then you are greeted with industrial areas and railroads until you reach the town, which is pretty nice for what it is. It has a Wal-Mart. The gas station in nearby Atwood has the most disgusting bathroom I've ever seen in the United States.
Good luck OP, I hope you find what you are looking for.