Me (23M) with my girlfriend (23F) of two years, intend to follow her to small college town but unsure of my job prospects

A little bit of background information:

My girlfriend, Nicole (23F) and I (23M) met during our undergrad two years ago. I graduated a year ahead of her, and I moved to a fairly large city (population of about 1 million) straight out of college. We were long distance, a ten hour drive apart for one year, and she moved in with me last year.

I was hired as a full time employee at my current company, while also enrolling in grad school in my field. Nicole moved in with me after she graduated, taking a gap year to apply to grad school. Knowing I would have two years of experience and an advanced degree under my belt, I was fairly confident I'd find work regardless of where she decided to go for grad school. The idea was: she follows me and applies to grad school, I get my degree, and then I follow her and find work where she moves.

Most of the places she applied to were fairly large cities with plenty of job opportunities for me as well, but she has decided to enroll at a school in a city with a much smaller population (<70,000). I don't resent her for it as it was a good choice considering financial aid, cost of tuition, and cost of living. This college town is located approximately an hour and a half away from where we currently live. I am concerned about my job prospects and have been preparing myself mentally for the worst case scenario: what if I have to find work in the larger city? It is too long of a distance for me to comfortably commute, but it would also break Nicole's heart to [potentially] relocate closer to the larger city. We are moving in two months.

I've considered splitting the difference and mentioned it (albeit in a hasty, anxious way) to Nicole and she said that moving somewhere in-between as non-negotiable. She moved here for me, and I need to move there for her; this was the plan. Also, I wouldn't want to make her commute forty minutes to class and for me to commute forty minutes to work.

I'm currently looking for available positions and applying. This is the rough plan I have come up with:

• Try my damn hardest to look for work in the new city for the next few months.
• If I have to, find a retail position to make ends meet while I look for a more permanent position within a ~20 mile radius of the new city.
• Give it three months of living together and if I still can't find permanent work in my field, relocate closer to the larger city and visit Nicole on the weekends

I keep telling myself that I'm overthinking it or that I am sounding the alarms early, but I'm just worried because most housing leases are for a year. If I have to move out closer to the city, we'll be semi-long distance again and she may not be able to pay for rent by herself. I'd probably help her out with it if I had to.

Does my rough plan sound like an okay idea? I know mentioning the idea of us living apart again would probably break her heart and come off as a little paranoid on my part, but how could I approach this conversation/should I even have this conversation?

Thanks y'all!

TL;DR: Recently graduated with an advanced degree and two years full time experience in my field. Intended to move with my girlfriend wherever she decided to attend grad school, but now unsure of my job prospects because it is a smaller location than originally planned.