I recommend NC. East of Raleigh to be exact. Sampson County would be a good place to start. Cost of living is cheap there but you have close access to I40 and could easily commute to Raleigh for a tech job. People in Eastern NC are friendly and mostly conservative. Sauce: I used to live there.
Also look at Harnett County. It’s just above and to the west of Sampson County. Conservative place and a little closer to Raleigh. Also home of Campbell University. A really good private university in NC. Probably one of the best after Duke and Wake Forest. Wayne County is a little more Eastern BUT it is home to Seymour Johnson Airforce base and potentially lots of jobs available. Good people there too. Just lots of good folks in Eastern NC.