Someone else said it, but their comment is dead: California is bordered by a state with no sales tax to the north, and no income tax to the east. I would love to move to a more "rural" area if my company ever adopts remote work, but there is no financial advantage to rural CA over, say, rural any-other-state. If I'm going to move to the countryside, far away from my job, to remote work, I'm going to keep driving the moving van to at least cross a border, to avoid all that extra expense.

I've never lived there, but I bet the east and west sides of lake Tahoe have similar quality of life, similar amenities, similar schools, but living just a few km across a border could mean you keep thousands more per year of your compensation.

A lack of jobs is usually not considered a positive thing when looking for a place to move to

True. And it's a bit of a catch 22 because even if you have your job, the city might not be good in terms of infrastructure, resources, schools, etc

Any particular countryside town you’d recommend for someone working from home?