Does NASA pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, NASA employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at NASA. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at NASA?

86% of NASA employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated NASA 4.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.4 for culture and values and 4.3 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at NASA?

Intern (290) , Aerospace Engineer (125) , Engineer (101) , Astronaut (95) , Internship (77) , Software Engineer (56) , Systems Engineer (38) , Software Engineer(Internship) (37) , Mechanical Engineer (35) , Engineering Intern (31) , Research Scientist (24) , Summer Intern (23) , Contract Specialist (22) , Astrophysicist (21) , Senior Software Engineer (21)

What are the pros of working at NASA according to real employee reviews?

"Great people and learning experiences" ((in 282 reviews)); "Work life balance is great when you don’t go through management and let HR inform them of any accommodations" ((in 99 reviews)); "This makes it easy to win the best place to work in federal government awards year after year." ((in 81 reviews)); "The work that we do also provides great benefit to life here on Earth." ((in 67 reviews)); "Good work environment and people" ((in 62 reviews))

What are the cons of working at NASA according to real employee reviews?

"low pay and old buildings" ((in 149 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 58 reviews)); "there are no cons, very good management" ((in 30 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 29 reviews)); "Some non performers and very poor managers." ((in 13 reviews))

What are employees saying about NASA layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about NASA layoffs and their outlook for job security at NASA in 2026.

NASA reviews

4.4

86% would recommend to a friend

(1,790 total reviews)

Charles F. Bolden, Jr.

83% approve of CEO

59% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.4

Culture & values

4.4

Work/Life balance

4.3

Diversity & inclusion

4.3

Career opportunities

4.2

Senior management

4.0

Compensation and benefits

NASA has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 1,790 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The NASA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Gobierno y administración pública industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

4.0

Feb 28, 2015

Lovely. Learned new things

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Interesting work setup and nice people

Cons

Not many perks and added benefits provided by NASA

5.0

Feb 20, 2015

Good people, Great place to work

Programmer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Lot's of people who care about what they do. Good management (of course, not all branches have great management) allows discretion to employees to develop new processes & push discovery.

Cons

NASA probably does best with a clear big mission -- like going to the moon in the 1960s. Lot's of scientists are doing great work at NASA, but visibility is often low. Most of these folks would prefer to stay away from the spotlight, but some publicity needed to remind public of value created by funding science & exploration.

3.0

Feb 16, 2015

Government Inaction

Astrophysicist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Complete freedom to do what you want - little management of senior research staff Set any hours you want Impossible to fire civil servants Chill atmosphere, collegial environment The Director - Pete Worden - is doing good things for Ames

Cons

Poor work culture - not focused on conducting engineering or research efficiently causes low morale Incredible bureaucracy - purchasing a basic computer takes months Impossible to fire civil servants Poor accounting, cooking books Travel and attending conferences is difficult Legal threats to civil servants if you leave and continue to work in the same field Stagnant pay

Viewing 1657 - 1659 of 1,790 Reviews

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NASA reviews

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Ratings by demographic groups

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Lovely. Learned new things

Good people, Great place to work

Government Inaction

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