IBEW electrician here. I cannot tell you how many people I talk to or hear about on a daily basis that are severely underpaid and the only connection between them is that they live in the Southern US states. Your companies will try to tell you there is nothing better. They are lying sacks of shit. If you have the means, and you want to make an actual career is a skill trade, Get The Fuck Out Of The South!. The further North you go, the better. Get out of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and especially fucking Texas. Fuck Texas.