If you want to blame people, blame the CEOs of large, big city corporations who only pay what they are forced to pay.
They forced the government's hand by treating their employees like chattel. There is no doubt they would pay their employees less, if they could get away with it. They all use tricks like not giving enough hours to be forced to pay them more or give them benefits that full time people get.
Yes sir, the root cause of this issue are the fat-cats on Bay St. 
If these small town people want to get mad, get mad at them.