Seamaster: You have several subissues within the question:
1. Do you have some rural skills? I live in the city. 15 fruit trees on a small city, hilly lot. I have raised bees, had a vegetable garden, trapped animals. If you have the skills, doesn't matter where you live. If you don't have the skills and experience, won't matter if you are rural.
2. Do you expect to be so rural that you will never be bothered by fleeing people? I manage a family farm and have a separate tree lot. Rural, of course. And they will be overrun within the first week of a major disaster by people seeking food.
3. Do you know your state's water code? In my state, every square inch is within a water district. You don't have the right to simply dig a well, divert water from a stream, put a pipe into a river to get free water.
The dream of most people is to "retire" to a rural area and live off the land. Having been a licensed real estate broker at one time, I will relate to you why it is a pipedream.
1. If you are in a relationship, it takes two to agree. If one is sick and has a favorite doctor, you aren't moving. If one has children in the city, you are not moving.
2. I sm 70 years old this month. I mulched around one tree yesterday. I mulched around two today. I am not lazy, just don't have the endurance like when I was 20. Retirees don't have the energy.
I have an expression that I coined after reading so many "bug out scenarios" and "living off the land". If a person, living in a rural area, behind a drawbridge, can get to the nearest city of 50,000 on a half a tank of gas, any one of the 50,000 who has a 1/2 tank of gas can drive to your crib and make an effort to take it away from you. Ok, you don't think it is real. One day, I was with a former member of the OSS in extreme western Red China. I had our driver stop in the middle of the highway. It was a concrete reinforced road that would support tanks. I stood in the middle of the road for 10 minutes before the next vehicle came. I was laughing. The road that leads from Beijing to Xian that can support tanks also leads from Xian to the Forbidden City. And . . . now you have locals from Xian attacking the Forbidden City/attacking Han in Han Cities with knives, and so forth.
Do you know why most people end up living in an urban area? Jobs, doctors, amenities.