jobs in big cities denver, new york etc?

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So I live in south dakota I recently moved to the second biggest city in the state. It has a population of around 70 thousand people. I am having trouble getting work. So I have a hypothetical for you guys and would like your input. If I went back to school and got my associates degree in net/sysadmin computer field and moved to a big city like denver or new york etc is there work there? This is kinda a pipe dream cause even though I am smart enough to get my associates degree I dont want to "waste" time going to school and being stuck right where I am with no job. Also I have little to no contacts in denver as family goes to help with support and such. None in any other place like new york and such.

So adivce?

Getting a new job in IT is probably pretty feasible, if you can start toward the bottom. (I looked for job as a sysadmin or analyst for over three years, but, I had a decent paying job already and a family to support, so I couldn't work my way up from the bottom, I had to find something more mid-range, which are the hardest to find.)

I don't know too much about Denver. I've got half a dozen acquaintances there and they all work in the engineering trades (civil, structural, environmental). I do know that one of them was recently hired from SC to Denver.

Do a search through indeed.com to check out open positions, or hit the biggest employers like the airport or any hospitals and universities. If those places have openings, it indicates a competitive environment (if they don't have openings, it means the higher paying smaller companies aren't hiring, so talent is taking the slightly lower paying jobs at those big companies).

Wouldn't you agree that obtaining a bachelor's degree would make the path to a job easier?

~waffle hand~ It depends. With IT, the experience could be more important than the higher degree (an associates or a certification can prove competence and interest).
Of course, there are some companies whose HR protocol automatically screens out those without a degree when it's listed in the job description.

I'm still digging out from under my student loan debt myself. I believe my education was worth the time, but, the ROI is another matter. I guess it's ~4 years in my case (student loan debt + interest = my raise from my new job over my old one).

Education holds little value in a society where anyone can get some level of education. Also, unless an employer knows and respects your school's reputation, he/she doesn't know you didn't just party for 4 years and graduate with a C average.

Experience is more valued than academics. They want to know that you can do the job.

More so, higher population areas may have more jobs open, but they also have more people competing for them. I've not moved to find better opportunity purely because I know more jobs doesn't = better chances of getting a good job compared to where I currently live.