Bartender/Commercial Diver trying to relocate to the Wilmington area (how much, job market)

[ihret1]

Hi All,
My husband and I are hoping to relocate to the Wilmington area, in the next year or so. We do not have kids, so we aren't concerned about schools, but we are concerned about the job market. We are from the north east, and my husband is a commercial diver (underwater construction etc), and I am a bartender pursuing nursing school. I have been told by various people that tipping averages tend to be much lower in the South and the Midwest....I am not terribly concerned about this, but admittedly when I lived in Western PA, the tipping average was less than 10% (often times, only 5%), which inevitably forced us to move back to New England where the tipping average is much higher. I just wanted to reach out to some locals and try to gage what one can expect as far as a decrease in income. Also, being that my husband is a commercial diver, I am not entirely sure that he will be able to find steady work. Charleston, SC has a few large commercial dive companies, and I would hope that there are some in Myrtle Beach, but I don't know if Wilmington has a lot of work to offer in that particular field. He is used to travelling for work, but being that we both have jobs that are trade skills, neither one of us is guaranteed a salary, or set income. It is always a gamble to guess what our incomes will be, and how much work is actually available ( these aren't Mon-Friday jobs basically). If anyone has any insight on either trades- bartending or commercial diving- please chime in! I would love to hear any advice or info! Thank you so much for your help!