I have been doing this for over 3 years. I did not get serious until about 1 1/2 years ago when i put down my payment on my own piece of land out in the middle of nowhere. This job pays for that piece of property and for me to survive.
I dont work every day- by choice. I dont always work 8 hours- sometimes I work 12. Pay will always vary based on job type, company, and my shopper rating. That being said, I am definitely not starving all though if you are wanting to be in this business on a serious level.... Keep an eye on your mileage and your gas! It can be a real kick in the a** to your pocket book!
This is a job. No way around it. Some asignments are fun, some easy, some are quick, and some can be pure agony. Its all about finding your niche. There are many companies for many brands for many different consumers and yes, shoppers as well.
Dont expect to fit in with all of them and dont let the fee be your driving force in this business or you will fail. Find out what you LIKE shopping and run with it! My favorite shops are $5 phone shops and these 9 & 12 home improvement shops. Little pay but I like them so I tend to get them done quicker and always get a 10 on my report which enables me a better chance of doing them whenever I want. They pay my bills! They can pay yours too!

I like the convenience store shops in my area. They take 5 minutes to complete and another 10 for the report (which I do on an app as soon as I leave the parking lot), and there are so many of them in my area I can cluster a mini-route where I don't have to drive more than 30 miles in the entire day. And, those shops make great filler shops in between others, like post offices where I need to have a 30 minute lapse in between each one I visit.

I like to go out of town. It means a trip into the countryside. The countryside and the wide open spaces are... wonderful. Long live the wide open spaces! The variety of views is interesting. I also like variety in jobs. I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that in addition to a daily in-town job. This is what I like. Other shoppers who want to shop near here might be pleased because there are shops that they might like, or be the "right" age, to do.

I like to go out of town for hotel shops, and then I can base a route on my way home. I like Coyle's 2-day hotel shops in particular. I wish I could find well-paying shops in more rural areas like you, Shop-et-al.

I have another job but don't work in the summer. I got really into the shops this summer just to supplement and have some extra cash. I have had a blast. My teenage son and I have made an adventure out of it by going to different places within 75 miles of us and doing something fun while we are there. I usually can pick up two or three shops for that day in the area we are going so the trip pays for itself. Our favorite was when we got to go to some attractions near us that we otherwise would not have been able to do. I even managed to get our lunch reimbursed that day! We have fun on the drive. If I'm in the area and the job pays low but doesn't cost me anything, why not do it. That's a few extra bucks in my paypal account.

I can only do the one-night hotel shops if I pay for someone to fill in for me elsewhere. I refuse to pay someone for more than one night. I do these occasionally because the task is a good practice in time management. But I hasten to assure that I am not just a one-night stand. I do the job. Even if my eyes do glaze over in the bar and I would rather be in my room. :/

But you were wondering about well-paid shops in rural areas such as mine. There are degrees of rural, and well-paid is subjective. Each shopper is situated uniquely. Each shopper can determine what is good and accessible for them and consider their age, energy, expenses and time. Some rural areas do not have shopped or other usable places. But in other rural areas, one might find at least one of the following locations: banks, credit unions, salons, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants, other restaurants, hardware stores, ag-related stores, pet stores, gift shops, general stores, lumber or home improvement stores, movie theaters, bowling alleys, bars, post offices, city halls, libraries, golf courses, colleges, universities, and other places that are shopped. Off the beaten track in some rural areas there lurk some fabulous [expensive/exclusive/desirable] resort-type shops. We know from other threads that some shops have a shopper-friendly ratio of pay:work and others do not. We remember that we have a longer drive to many places and can walk to some places. This may be a factor for us. We know that we can wait for bonuses or ask for them. We alone know whether we can travel to distant shops. Some shoppers would consider all things and determine that pay may be bad or good at the base fee, better with a bonus, and almost what we deserve as the month or quarter progresses. We can use shop apps, search functions in individual MSC websites, and job boards such as Volition, Job Slinger, or the "Mystery Shopping Job Board" in this forum. After we have done this for awhile, we might be contacted directly and asked to perform certain shops in our little towns or in distant places. In the US, we can find zip codes for targeted areas and use them when searching for distant shops. In other countries, we use similar information to locate jobs in rural areas there.

No one asked about this, but I will say it anyway. The emphasis above is on "we" because we cannot persuade other members to tell us which MSCs handle the shops for particular clients or shopped places. We rural dwellers can learn from the others here and find out shops and go from there.