So that cheap house in Aplington is basically 2 hours from good access and amenities (Airport, Costco, etc). For some people that extra hour of distance is worth owning a home for sub 100k.
To me, the better move is Indianola. Which is only 30 mins from good access (Des Moines) and optionally 2.5 hours to Kansas City if you needed anything in a big city.
This would be around $1500/mo. And with $1k/mo for food, 1k/mo for all utilities and services (like a phone), $500/mo for insurance that means you need to take home 50k and in Iowa the means earn 65-70k.
Seems pretty reasonable to me.