What are the best LCOL cities or general areas for IT right now? Preferably for contract work.

Full disclosure, I'm not a network person (yet) but I'm crossposting this to various IT subs because I'd like to cast a wide net and see some responses from people in all stages of their careers.

I’m partial to New England because I have family up that way but open to going almost anywhere in the continental US. I’d like to avoid high cost of living areas like NYC or San Francisco. I’m open to any type of work, government, healthcare, education, pretty much anything. I’m also open to living anywhere from a metro area to a small town to way out in the boonies.

I have an IT degree, three years of help desk experience and one year of contract Desktop Support, during which I managed a hardware deployment/rollout for a pretty big company. I’ll have the Comptia Trifecta by the end of the summer, and I’m hoping to have my CCNA by around Christmas.

What parts of the US seem like good options for IT nowadays?