I have a job offer that seems too good to be true, and I am not sure if I should take it.

Hi.

So, I've been in automation controls for the last 7 years working for a large manufacturer as a controls technician. I like my job for the most part, I have no issue with the work, but I won't lie, our management is not great, and career advancement is not good. It's not what you know, it's who you're friends with. If you're not friends with the right people, you will not advance very quickly.

I currently make $39.59/hr, without overtime I gross about $82,300. I can make more with overtime, some years it's a lot, some years it's not. I've easily made close to $100k in the past.

I am married. My wife makes about $21/hr. We recently had a baby.

I live in a relatively low COL area. I own a house that I pay a mortgage on that is fairly easy to pay for between my wife and I. I have an emergency fund with about $50k in it, so short term money is not a problem.

The job opportunity I have on the table would give me the title of Engineer. The initial offer is for $175k/yr salary with potential for up to a 15% bonus of my base salary. Their initial offer was for $150k/yr, I negotiated higher to see what they would do, and they landed on $175k/yr.

Where I have issues with this is the job is at a data center that's about 50 miles away from me. I am not a fan of data centers or AI.

But money talks. Big. If I took this job, my wife could be a stay at home mom, and our household net income would still go up by about $25k a year. Their insurance is pretty expensive. If I took the family plan that would cover what we need, including dental/vision, it would cost around 1200 a month. Even at that price, our household net would still go up around $25k.

I don't have an issue with the commute. I've toured the facility. It's big, it's pretty cool, and everyone I talked to and interacted with was super nice to me and had good things to say about it. My issue lies with the industry it is a part of. It seems extremely volatile. This facility is rapidly expanding, and it seems like they have a blank check for hiring people. They're in kind of a remote area, and I am sure they have a hard time trying to get people to live nearby. Hence the high salary offer.

I'm not entirely sure what I should do. A lot of people around me think I would be crazy to turn this down. But that's exactly what gives me pause.

Thoughts?

inb4 "Steak too juicy, lobster too buttery."