In Georgia, entry level IT jobs will ask for a degree, at least one certification, and multiple years of experience for less than $15/hr. I spent 5 years trying to survive on that kind of budget and eventually had to move to blue collar work. I'm lucky enough that I figured out how to get an IT job in a warehouse so now I'm finally making progress in my career.

I know it seems obvious in hindsight, but it turns out that if every company in the area pays barely above minimum wage, then it doesn't matter if you were told a million times your degree will have you starting work at 40k, you're going to be making barely above minimum wage. I was also told to never complain because there was always 100 applications waiting on me to quit or move up.