> My concern would be whether creating that software pays enough to keep up with skyrocketing costs of living.

You might need to relocate to a place with much lower costs of living.

This was the idea behind remote working discussed during COVID-19 times:

- the company can pay less money because the employee is living at a much cheaper place than the expensive city where the company is located

- on the other hand, even with a smaller salary, the employee has more money at the end of the month because of the smaller costs of living

So both sides win.

Ignoring the preference of people generally wanting to live in HCOL areas, this only works if every company hires equally from LCOL areas. One of the benefits of living in a HCOL area is access to the job market it provides. It's much easier to get hired for a software position living in San Francisco than it is living in Deming, New Mexico.

but moving to a lower COL area can reduce that amount of public and private services one gets access to, no? network connectivity will, for example, likely be worse out in the sticks

Unfortunately, in America places with low cost of living are generally, to put it diplomatically, unpleasant places to live. That's even more the case if you don't fit into the white, cis, straight, and Christian box that rural areas are willing to accept.