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 (289) , 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 95 reviews)); "This makes it easy to win the best place to work in federal government awards year after year." ((in 80 reviews)); "benefits are good and useful" ((in 65 reviews)); "The work environment is good and there are lots of group bonding experiences." ((in 60 reviews))

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

"low pay and old buildings" ((in 148 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 63 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 33 reviews)); "no management pretty much do what u want" ((in 32 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.

NASA reviews

4.4

86% would recommend to a friend

(1,788 total reviews)

Charles F. Bolden, Jr.

82% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.4

Culture & values

4.4

Work/Life balance

4.3

Diversity & inclusion

4.3

Career opportunities

4.1

Senior management

4.0

Compensation and benefits

NASA has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 1,788 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

Jun 18, 2012

it was a great educative experience

Human resources supervisor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

You get a chance to help your country and experience new innovative ideas everyday

Cons

Your supervisors give you a hard time everyday

5.0

Jun 8, 2012

NASA is a really good.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Gives you a good reputation. It makes you feel proud when you say I work at NASA.

Cons

It's not affordable/easy for common man to enter NASA.

2.0

Jun 7, 2012

NASA MSFC leadership deficit is indicator of stalled aerospace industry; technical management becoming scarce commodity

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits - vacation time for federal workers can only be surpassed by banking industry, pension benefit at least for now, flextime, request for training usually granted if relation to work can be demonstrated Much flexibility in what projects employee supports - employees can actually say "no" to working on specific projects Access to Restone Arsenal technical library - has to be one of the best technical libraries in the world

Cons

Management and leadership deficit strongly apparent; center is directionless at the moment, at the whim of the government but also due to lack of vision in the agency overall and individual centers; work inertia is mind-numbing, entirely too long to produce meaningful results; meaningful work often times is elusive; too many levels of non-functioning management, most middle management and branch chief positions filled with political cronies - most lacking basic technical abilities; little to no incentive for many to be more innovative in how work is performed; No dual career path program, going into management is only way to climb to higher grades

Viewing 1714 - 1716 of 1,788 Reviews

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NASA

NASA reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

it was a great educative experience

NASA is a really good.

NASA MSFC leadership deficit is indicator of stalled aerospace industry; technical management becoming scarce commodity

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