Thanks for the advice. I believe your post is the tipping point for my decision to leave NC.

I've lived in NC my entire life but a number of factors have basically been saying, "You need to get the hell outta there, dude!" Entrepreneurship is the main one. And maybe it's just me but I haven't come across many people here throughout my entire life who have a similar mindset to my own.

People out west seem very chill. California would probably be my first choice but I'll definitely look into the others as well.