Is small community living the bane of hypergamy?

I was recently chatting with a new employer who came back from a long stint in a massive city to his small town to settle down. He said there was no real marriage material there and we both agreed small towns have a certain "pressure and responsibility to community to be a good man." The city was of western influence but we both live in small East Euro communities now.

Does this effect hold true for women? Does the watchful eye of a small community provide a structural benefit in terms of producing wife material? Is this effect diminished in places that prioritize individual freedoms like America? Stories from people who dated in both small and highly populous areas and their analysis of both would be great here.