New Mexico (albuquerque and Santa Fe included) doesnt have many job availabilities as it has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country and certainly cannot be considered an educated area. New Mexico consistently ranks in the bottom 5 states in the country for education and the state has to offer free education through the lottery scholarship in order to even get anyone interested in furthering their education. New Mexico also has one of the highest drop out rates for high sschool education with the state having around a 40% drop out rate.
Liberal as can be but about as uneducated as you can find in the United States. Santa Fe certainly doesnt offer much in the job category, you would find more in Albuquerque but it is not the nicest place.
You may be able to find some things in Montana or Wyoming possibly but I am not sure what the job situation would be in those states. Utah would likely be the top state that I can think of because cost of living in most places in CA is very high when compared to other states.
I guess more importantly this all depends on the field one is looking to get into. If software/computer related then CA would be the place to be, if industry/manufacturing then maybe not. The best answer would probably be to get an altitude tent, a large amount of iron whether pill form or liquid, and a good job that offers paid vacation. You could sleep at high altitude each night, train wherever you live, and use the paid vacation time for an actual visit to an altitude location to train.
Altitude tents work but one has to make sure they are getting enough time in the tent and are taking very large amounts of iron.