Can you even afford to live in the south?

I’ve been desperately trying to figure out where I want to complete my apprenticeship but all over I just see if you want to live it has to be in the north or pnw. I grew up in the Midwest and North (Ohio and Minnesota) and hated every second of it and I’ve recently moved to Houston for trade school and aside from the crime and summers you can’t even look outside I love it infinitely more and I want to do my apprenticeship in North Carolina but at the same time I want to be able to afford to live. Is it possible or even worth it?