You are not factoring in the quality of life, the taxes, the regulations, the meddlesome politicians, etc.
Your definition of opportunity is narrow.
Quality of life is no problem for me. I don't live in LA or SF. I live in a super area, that is beautiful. With a perfect 72 degrees and sunny in the dead of winter, and near perfect summers, paying a little extra seems more than worth it. I'm growing tomatoes in December!! As far as regulations and the rest of their nonsense in Sacramento, like those in D.C. I just do my best to ignore them. One day we'll turn things around here. After all, even though we are a little out numbered here, we still have millions of conservatives, more than most other states.