I think the key factor is being in a small town/rural environment. Setting aside the professions that we normally think of as transportable, like teachers, nurses, etc., If you're a lawyer, or doctor, academic, engineer, scientist, businessperson in any of the traditional fleet concentration areas like JAX, Norfolk, San Diego, PAX, DC, even Oahu and Point Mugu, you're going to have a pretty good shot at finding employment. On the other hand, Whidbey, Bremerton, Lemoore, all the southern tier TRACOMs, Kauai, Fallon, China Lake, Key West, etc... that's going to be a challenge.
There's no way the service can offset that in any meaningful way. It's just going to have to be the cost of doing business, which includes locality pay.