I work in Bloomington, IL, 120 miles from my home in Chicago burbs. So I bought a house near my job and live 2 places. I have the advantage that my kids are in their 20s.
But when they were younger I took some out-of-town gigs in MN and KS. Yes, it was difficult. But it was better than going on unemployment comp.
We choose where we live, what skills we acquire and other aspects of our economic situation. We can’t make those choices and then use them as excuses.
The “work from home” jobs do exist in IT. But they certainly aren’t as numerous as the “on site” jobs. But times can change. Many companies are bring offshored jobs back to the USA. In doing so, some are still willing to accept “off site but not offshore” as a compromise ... if the person has the skills ... not the least of which is the ability to communicate in American English as opposed to difficult to understand English. A major reason for bringing the offshored jobs back here is the problems caused by poor communication.
I'm trying to negotiate a means of spreading my remaining 318 hours of vacation through October. That means taking a 70% cut in income to keep my foot in the door. The hours are all vacation, so I'm free to fill in with other work. Resuming my current income in October is superior to anything I can find locally.