Glad you're looking to get started! Have you heard of the book by Mark Williams? "A Guide to Rally Co-driving in North America" Pick up a copy, and read it - twice - and take notes. Seriously. Helped me a lot when I got started.
Click HERE for book.
Do you have any volunteer experience?
Central PA is a good place to be, not *too* far if you're willing to drive (8-10hr tow is "Normal"
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Safety gear is important, but unfortunately also expensive. I bought a cheap suit (Sparco Jade) to start and quickly upgraded out of that oven mit! I would look into an Alpinestars "Knoxville" suit, great suit for the price. Quality pays for both comfort and safety. I would recommend a Simpson hybrid if you can swing it, they have a bit of side protection that the HANS does not (especially if you're in a car that doesn't have winged seats, which you should be if you can). I'll be switching to a Simpson soon.
Helmets are all over the board, you can get whatever helmet you like really, and add an intercom. Once you pick an intercom though, you'll end up needing adapters to be compatible with other systems. I bought a Bell helmet (which is Peltor intercom compatible) and I've only had to use an adapter once, most people have peltor systems. My next helmet, however, will be a Stilo. Lighter, better speakers, better safety certs, and one adapter means you can plug into Peltor no problem. Increasingly cars will have Stilo systems anyway since Peltor stopped making intercoms a few years ago I believe (they still make the headsets though).
Hope this helps! Feel free to shoot me a DM or respond here if you have any more questions!