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How much are rescues going for these days?
Rescues and shelters are different, shelters are usually subjected to keeping up with laws and inspections, some "rescues" are just businesses started by ordinary people. I would trust shelters over rescues. 
Sad part is that "ethical breeders" are few and far between. Most don't even get licensed and go under the radar. It is very, very difficult to find a good breeder. I'm a vet tech and I've seen even AKC registered breeders continue to inbreed and sell puppies that need to be euthanized before 1 year old due to congenital problems. >

Ya and even if you find that magical ethical breeder that health tests, dna testing, spay and neuter contract, pedigree papers, vaccines and only breeds a litter or 2 a year. They're also likely to not just sell any pup to you because you got money they'll likely not let you have a puppy unless they know you've done your research on the breed and everything. They also would charge a hell of a lot more then the $600 Op is whining about. >

1300 cad for my shetland..totally worth it btw >

1600 USD for my English lab >

I don’t know about better, but some rescues are so overzealous with their requirements it’s ridiculous. We rescued one of our dogs and the rescue threw a fit that they couldn’t get a vet reference from my husband’s previous vet for a dog he had years ago because the vet had passed away. We already had one dog at the time and they could contact our current vet, but that wasn’t good enough. We ended up getting approved in the end, but they treated us like we’re were criminals and everything we said was met with suspicion. >

When I've looked to adopt dogs in the past, it was really challenging. A lot had really stringent requirements about backyards, work hours, etc. I saw plenty that essentially wouldn't adopt out if someone wasn't at home all day with the dog. Plenty more that won't adopt out if you don't have a backyard. Having a backyard doesn't guarantee a quality of life for the dog... >

Exactly. They got on us about not having a fenced yard too. We lived in a little townhome complex with a fenced area, but it wasn’t around our backyard specifically. It’s like they forget people can walk dogs on a leash.