I live in a midwest college town. Unemployment here is extremely low, has been for decades. Housing costs are relatively low as well. I live in a house that in the Seattle area would be over $1M. I paid 20% of that. There are multiple startups for tech here, as well as government jobs, college related jobs, and other industries. So there's no dearth of employment options. If something were to happen, I can commute an hour to a city with a population of 1M.

They are pretty common. Kansas City. St. Louis. Des Moines. Dayton. And that's just the Midwest.

You don't need a great job market; you just need the one job. Works for some people.

With the market changing quicker than ever before due to various structural changes such as new technologies, consolidation of employers, and globalization, I would not recommend having one, or even just a handful of buyers for what you're selling. This applies to businesses and individuals.

I would demand a premium for being in a market where there are fewer buyers and I am subject to more risk of losing my income.

In Europe house prices seem fairly tied to employment opportunities. Certainly if you are working in It.

Is that true? I know real estate is incredibly expensive in places like London/Paris and most people cannot afford to own homes there based on their working salary (which is usually much lower than the US equivalent).

Works for a lot of people, especially if they fall into fairly standard, but good service gigs. e.g. vehicle repair, home repair, cutting hair, or working a local pub.

Even better if you show up with a pile of cash from a former career.