I agree with your concern @christielynn and also have been searching for scientific conclusions about risk in geographic locations in order to make a decision about spending time in SC where we have a condo ( I live in PA) . I have been anxious about being in the SC coastal area. We found a small research study about NTM infection rate in CF patients in FL that showed a 9x increase in rate of NTM infection for those who lived within 500m of water. I have posted that link below. We have decided to sell our place in SC as it is surrounded by water in the low country. It is a very personal and difficult decision without a lot of guidance. I hope you can find peace in the process of deciding where to settle as NTM is present to some degree everywhere. You can’t mitigate the outside environment that surrounds you so I think location is an important decision.
Best wishes.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raid-Amin/publication/311885929_Household_proximity_to_water_and_nontuberculous_mycobacteria_in_children_with_cystic_fibrosis/links/5a60e59c45851517c7af0120/Household-proximity-to-water-and-nontuberculous-mycobacteria-in-children-with-cystic-fibrosis.pdf