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 278 reviews)); "Work life balance is great when you don’t go through management and let HR inform them of any accommodations" ((in 94 reviews)); "This makes it easy to win the best place to work in federal government awards year after year." ((in 82 reviews)); "Good work environment and people" ((in 63 reviews)); "benefits are good and useful" ((in 59 reviews))

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

"Low pay and bureaucracy to deal with" ((in 147 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 54 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 34 reviews)); "no management pretty much do what u want" ((in 30 reviews)); "Poor leadership." ((in 15 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.

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NASA

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

3.0

Nov 10, 2012

Technical challenge diluted with too much bureaucracy

Technical staff member

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Technical challenging, interesting work. Ability to switch between different fields makes a long-term technical career possible.

Cons

This is an old bureaucracy, very overblown; rules are sometimes outdated, sometimes not making sense at all. Patience is definitely needed.

5.0

Oct 29, 2012

Truly a world-class working environment at JPL

Systems engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Working with some of the most passionate, driven, super-intelligent people on the planet to build some of the coolest machines and explore the universe.... What could be better?!

Cons

You work with a bunch of work-a-holics - be prepared to have everyone have high expectations of you! Too bad the NASA locations are all not great places to live... Texas, Florida, California, Alabama, etc...

3.0

Oct 10, 2012

Slow

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Exciting new projects and support of innovative technologies

Cons

Excitement dissipates as the project is slowed by red tape and bureaucracy.

Viewing 1699 - 1701 of 1,790 Reviews

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Technical challenge diluted with too much bureaucracy

Truly a world-class working environment at JPL

Slow

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