Well, in development, it's all about experience. Any way you can get experience is a plus. Don't think about the companies you're going to work for, if you can learn about agile, work on a small team and deal with source control issues, bugs and get some real world project experience, you're salary requirements will escalate pretty quickly.
Just as an FYI, I'm a self starter. Got a huge break at a large corporation. My salary was mid 50K there. After two years, I left and got a startup gig in the 70's. After six months there, I left and did contracting. My first agile, big project work was paying $45/hour. Less than five years into my dev career, and I'm already at six figures.
Sure you start at 50K, but you will move up fast. Also, if you're sigle, with no family and can move, I'd look at going to where the jobs are - it will make a huge difference. More open spots, less developers means a big leap in what companies need to pay to get warm bodies in seats.
Either way, just keep pushing forward, it will be worth it, trust me.