That's about industry standard for cheaper markets. What's not standard is the cost of housing- it's similar to large cities. The scenery tax is real.If this is within the last 10 years, sorry to say, but that’s his own fault.
I moved here 15+ years ago and had my pick of several engineering jobs at substantially more than that with no PE.
Not saying it’s affordable even now at these wages, but engineers right out of school with zero experience are making $70k plus here.