Best places in the US to live in the countryside?

Where are some good places to live in the countryside (mostly interested in the eastern side of the US) that isn't too expensive to live in and has enough employment?

In terms of pure aesthetic value, I'd say Missouri based on my trip down to New Orleans through ND, SD, IA, MO, AR, MS and LA. Then again, MO was the only state we drove on US and state highways, so my view of the other states might be a little biased.

In terms of affordable housing, the Southeastern United States has been the cheapest in the country since the real estate market crash.

Obviously Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Missouri, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming are the only acceptable answers.

We talking country or we talkin country?

There's this adorable little town in Mississippi called Liberty. Rolling hills and pine trees galore to say nothing of the friendly residents. I don't know about the job situation, but land is super cheap last I checked (about $4k/ acre).

I heard foreign real estate firms were buying houses for as cheap as $15 from the abandoned industrial midwest towns. Granted you gotta live probably somewhere that looks like a Syrian warzone. They may have once been urban but it's probably pretty rural as far as not being densely populated. One could buy up a block and make it a farm if they wanted.

I do know here in Pennsylvania it's absolutely beautiful once you are away from the cities. You get all 4 seasons here as well. I'm sure upstate New York is similar.

What field are you in? If you are a tech worker, there's no better place than central North Carolina or what's more commonly referred to as the Research Triangle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle

It's an area between two major cities (Raleigh/Durham) and is supported by major universities (Duke/Chapel Hill) and big tech companies (IBM/Citrix/Met Life/Lenovo/etc). It's also an absolutely beautiful area that is in driving distance to other exceptionally beautiful places. Beach and the outer banks to the east (2hrs or so) and to the west is the Smokey Mountains. Raleigh is a nice clean city with a lot of history, and Durham has had some major investments in arts and music (used to have a bad rep). The surrounding towns like Cary and Apex and fantastic places to live with a nice mix of modern and old town square feel. Lots of free stuff to do as well, for instance in Raleigh all museums are free and the city planning is great with tons of parks, trails, and other outdoor activities near to everywhere.

People are great too, big change from south Florida which is full of arseholes. Housing is reasonable (comparable to Florida, but much cheaper than places like New York) although that is fast changing as housing prices are starting to rise pretty rapidly (word is out). Anyways, don't take my word for it:

http://time.com/money/3984379/apex-north-carolina-best-places-to-live-2015-2/

(I live in Apex myself)

DC area is good for jobs at the moment. You can find some decently priced living space in northern VA relative to what you are paid anyways.

Isn't the traffic a pain though? My cousin lived in DC and while she liked it, always complained about how expensive it was and that the traffic was horrendous.

Well, yes, but you made no mention of the traffic in your OP lol. I think companies are starting to understand the pain of commute around here so they are more flexible with telework. As for expensive, it's not bad. Like I said it's decent relative to what you are paid. If you want to find a cheap area to live then the job market won't be so great. Housing price is nothing compare to NY or SF. Plus DC area is a hub for young professionals, so if you are single it's good for dating too.

BTW DC area <> city of DC. I'm referring to area around DC, like in northern VA and Maryland south of Baltimore.

Well, to be fair, I'm not the OP lol. That being said I was just genuinely curious. As I said my cousin like the area but those always stuck out for me. Coming from South Florida traffic is a major sticking point for where I choose to live after having to deal with it for so long. Before I moved to NC I was considering Atlanta and it's surrounding areas (which has similar tech market) but was put off by how much I heard about the traffic issues.

My bad for mistaking you for op. Yeah, any time you have an influx of outside population the roadway infrastructure is going to have a hard time keeping up. I grew up around the area and traffic isn't always this bad so assumption is the infrastructure will catch up eventually. That said, the cops in VA are mostly terrible and consistently rated top worst lists by drivers around the country.

NC is good too, but the job market outside of IT isn't great and I'd venture to say that a lot of the residents there are transient where as many of the people in the DC area tends to stay.

Lakeside New York by Lake Ontario. Frigid winters though. I loved it there. The rest of the family didn't though. The winters were too harsh for them.

Good call. If I weren't in Florida, NC would be a great place to live.

@Wilfred_Owen: Never got the infatuation of city people with living in the sticks. Small towns living is terrible. Every person living in those towns wishes to live in the city.

@redrichard: I live in a suburban area that is part of metro Baltimore-DC and yes the money is good, yes the school systems here are good, and yes there are plenty of shopping malls and restaurants to spend time at on weekends but the people are always in a rush, somewhat snobby, and very materialistic. My grandparents had a farm that I used to visit all of the time and I enjoyed the relaxed and peaceful lifestyle where I can take in the beauty. I could see how some people would enjoy the city more if they are more of an extrovert and like being around people all of the time.