Or, in particularly small towns, just “hot relative”

Small town would be homeless in a large city, that's why they are in the town.

Never been around small towns? The selection pressure is immense.

My camp is outside a town of 900 souls. Observe the people going in and out the local grocery/convenience store vs. the people at a Circle K in the city. Night and day.

In a large population, you can be fat, plain, unstylish, whatever, still find a mate. Of course that doesn't account for "the best of the best", but seems to me "average" is quite a bit higher in rural areas, even given the lower income.

You have no idea how correct you are. I moved from a small town to a massive city and after a while I noticed there was a lot less overweight people and people were just generally in better shape.

Move somewhere where you don't need a car and can walk and take public transit. Humans are not built to drive around everywhere and only walk in parking lots.

So does redneck business. Ever met a young man who works a ranch or farm? LOL, walking doesn't get you that body. And the women have to compete for such men.

My take isn't rural vs. city, good or bad. I'm simply stating what I've seen IRL.