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 (76) , Software Engineer (56) , Systems Engineer (38) , Software Engineer(Internship) (37) , Mechanical Engineer (34) , 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 287 reviews)); "Work life balance is great when you don’t go through management and let HR inform them of any accommodations" ((in 96 reviews)); "This makes it easy to win the best place to work in federal government awards year after year." ((in 81 reviews)); "Great Benefits and retirement plan" ((in 70 reviews)); "Good work environment and people" ((in 63 reviews))

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

"low pay and old buildings" ((in 145 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 62 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 32 reviews)); "there are no cons, very good management" ((in 31 reviews)); "Some non performers and very poor managers." ((in 12 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

(1,789 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 1,789 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

Sep 28, 2012

Great place to work with a Bachelor's but PhDs look elsewhere

Systems engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Research and flexibility, with the ability to set your own schedule. Pay is great for entry-level positions

Cons

Difficult to get staff research position and the pay is not competitive for PhD. Be careful to avoid the postdoc positions unless really interested in doing the same work and getting paid half the amount. I was paid more after Bachelor's than the current postdoc salary.

5.0

Sep 24, 2012

Research Affiliate at the Jet Propulsion Labs Planetary Science Division

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing to work with so many brilliant people, beautiful location, with some of the most exciting research and missions taking place.

Cons

Not as many scientist positions vs engineers, but all equally brilliant colleagues

3.0

Sep 6, 2012

A great organization lacking the direction to maintain prestige

Science directorate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Get to work with amazing new minds on fantastic new projects. Some of the most satisfying work than anything I could think of.

Cons

The contractor-civil servant relationship is really unattractive; as a civil servant I was often looked down upon as "lazy." Lots of organizational constraints.

Viewing 1702 - 1704 of 1,789 Reviews

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Great place to work with a Bachelor's but PhDs look elsewhere

Research Affiliate at the Jet Propulsion Labs Planetary Science Division

A great organization lacking the direction to maintain prestige

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