> But there are many, many competent people in the US who aren't willing to move to one of these major cities, who can't pass the FAANG hiring bar, or don't want to.

The flip-side to this is that, if you're in the middle of nowhere (and demand on-prem), it's harder to attract junior developers for the things that they typically cut their teeth on to move up. This often makes maintenance activities, smaller design and development work, and adding a few extra coders to a project more expensive than they otherwise would be because senior talent is more expensive.