Yep, it’s a delicate balance, and there are no guarantees. Move to a remote mountain and you might not get found, but you might starve to death eventually if you’re not a crackerjack farmer already. And the farther NW into the cold zone, the harder that gets.
OTOH, your small town with some kind of job and other advantages might get overrun by savages. Who knows? I’m in North FL, at least we grow enough to eat around here.
It’s a general rule, of course - I pinged you since I mentioned your name!
Various odds in various locations. The one thing I would not bet on is the future being like the (recent) past. Like many scenarios in not recent past, yes.