I am a software engineer based in Louisiana. I've hit 2YoE and I feel as if I've already hit a ceiling. There are few software jobs here, most of which are under-paid senior roles. Every interview I've landed this year ends at salary expectations. I currently make 70k, I've been asking 90k.

Another concern of mine is that software here seems to be frozen in time. There's only so far you can go with professional experience in VB6, MSSQL, and Crystal Reports. I've been lucky to work on modernising in my current role and I've become very familiar with the .NET desktop ecosystem. My hope is that this lends me some credibility in the "real software" world.

Personally, I am completely confident in my ability to build good software. I was writing code long before I got paid to. I've worked on some really cool projects in my own time. What I'm lacking is process and professionalism. Noone has ever critiqued my code, we don't use version control properly, we don't write tests. I've inherited projects where there wasn't even a planned architecture, just lines of code growing with time.

I want to work somewhere where software is taken seriously, with people who care about doing a good job. I want to learn from people more skilled than me. It's becoming clear that if I stay in Louisiana I'll only grow into a more skilled junior.

I just don't know where to go or how to get there. I'm not a strong competitor at the national scale. I'm unsure if any company is willing to wait for me to relocate, let alone provide relocation assistance. Should I just pick a city and go? Should I drop the idea entirely? If anyone has been in a similar situation I'd very much appreciate the advice.