Midwest US. Federal employee. I currently work operations. 11 year as a mechanic 2 years in operations and now I just keep track of the guys doing my former job. 4 days a week, 10 hour shifts $31.61/hour
usajobs.gov - There are jobs open to the public and jobs that require military service as well
All kinds of jobs in all kinds of fields. Unions as well
As someone who grew up in and still has family in a small town (5-10k pop) - Things may be cheaper but no one's paying livable wages even for these small towns.
Unfortunately, that's the norm from my experience as well. I think it depends on location/department. I put in for jobs in South Dakota in my field and I had an interview within 2 weeks of the job closing.
Hell, applying for NATO is even worse. I think the shortest I've waited for them is 8 months
https://nato.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en
Semi-related I can confirm. I recently found out that my state senator sold out for only $14,000