My county has just over 5,000 population. A lot more cattle than people.
Counties near by have as little as 1,200 population.
It is quiet here, most of the time.
I have lived in one area of that open space, and there is a reason the population is so low. The climate can be very unhospitable in a lot of places. I called Southeast New Mexico home for a few years. Unless you have a means to get water, forget it. It only rains nine inches per year and you don't want to be there those two days. I'll stay here in rural East Tennessee, thank you.
I once read of a study done in the 1990s concerning Phoenix, Arizona and it was postuated that if not for air conditioning, the Phoenix population would be less than 500,000.
Ahhh..., the good ole Heartland...
South central Iowa/North Central Missouri is a great area. Low, stable rural based population, two hours away from any city of size, rolling hills for terrain, lots of wooded areas to hide, good soil for growing, game aplenty. Unionville/Centerville region is a phenomenal place if you had to survive.
Look at northern Arizona where you have four dark-red counties (Mohave, Coconino, Yavapai, and Navajo.) If our counties were the size of those in the East, you'd have five tiny red spots encompassing the cities of Kingman, Prescott, Flagstaff, Holbrook, and Show Low-Pinetop-Lakeside. Most of the rest would be white empty space like you see in the Great Plains, spread over an area almost as large as New England.
The same is true of the southern counties in Arizona, and many of the large counties of New Mexico, Nevada, and even California.
-ccm