Tips on how to find good contractors? And to understand skill sets?

Project: replace house siding with vinyl. Remodel of the kitchen (cabinets).

Context: I looked into getting a contractor for getting a new outlet and realized it's easy enough to do myself. My garage extension springs broke and I was quoted $550 on average from a few quotes. Spent $30 and did it myself. The algorithm has given me contractor memes and it's everyone joking about how much they upcharge people. Water heaters being the biggest meme. Contractors seem to chastise other contractors for charging too low. A lot of intense bitterness towards clients, which I sort of understand from my own career. Also minor, but being from Jersey I find a lot of contractors are close talkers and very pushy. I can hold my own, but it's getting pretty annoying to deal with.

Question: So I would like to know what a fair price would be for my projects and where to find good contractors. I don't really have word of mouth. I've used the neighbors app, but I feel like I'm not reaching people. I've researched top people/businesses but they are painfully expensive. I'm not afraid of a reasonable price, please don't take that away. But I don't know what reasonable means anymore.