I know on my end I can do a location filter to only show me potential matches near me, but is there a way to filter myself away from others' potential messages? For example, if you live 3,000 miles from me, it's a waste of my time to find out where you're from and delete them (the desktop side and the mobile site seem to display the messages and locations in different orders, but that's beside the point). Can I make it so if anyone from outside my area tries to message me, they can get an automatic response?

There is no specific location filter.
There is, however, a distance filter.
You can choose to allow first contact
from within certain distances.