Salary expectations: how do you answer? after 15 years as an electrician's helper

I have been out of work for 24 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. I am in Portland, in case local advice matters. I do not want to price myself out. How do you research fairly?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.