Since you live in the US, the easiest way to get a privacy phone is to buy a Google Pixel 3 or 4 from Rob Braxman with LineageOS 17.1 installed. If you live in Europe, you can buy the Fairphone 3 from the /e/ Foundation, but it doesn’t support the American cellular bands.
Setting up a privacy phone on my own with LineageOS and F-Droid took me a lot of work, and probably isn’t something you should attempt on your own if you don’t have much technical experience and you aren’t willing to spend a lot of time reading the xda-developers forums.
If you need a working Linux privacy phone in the near future (within the next two months), and you don’t want to install the OS yourself, then your best bet is to buy a PinePhone, but it is currently out of stock, and when it comes back into stock, it is going to have Manjaro with KDE Plasma Mobile preinstalled, which is probably not want you want if you just want stuff to work. Your best bet is to install Mobian with Phosh. Installing another OS in the PinePhone isn’t hard.
Another option is to pre-order the Pro1-X that is due in August 2021, and supports all the AT&T bands except LTE B30.
If you order the Librem 5 now, you will have to wait for Q3 or later to get it. In my opinion, it is the best option for protecting your privacy of all the available phones. I expect that it will take a while for Purism to add good software support for the camera, GPS and smartcard, and to improve the battery life so it can last all day on a single charge, but you get lifetime software updates, so I think it will be a good option, if you are willing to wait. If you want more info on a particular feature, check the community FAQ.