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 284 reviews)); "Work life balance is great when you don’t go through management and let HR inform them of any accommodations" ((in 100 reviews)); "This makes it easy to win the best place to work in federal government awards year after year." ((in 80 reviews)); "Good work environment and people" ((in 65 reviews)); "benefits are good and useful" ((in 63 reviews))

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

"low pay and old buildings" ((in 151 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 56 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 31 reviews)); "Some non performers and very poor managers." ((in 13 reviews)); "We have had 5 company changes in 6 years; but the upper management at White Sands has not changed." ((in 9 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

(1,788 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 8, 2011

Interesting work, but too much bureaucracy and little accountability

Senior software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good work-life balance (most of the time) Interesting work Pretty nice campus (at least the surroundings) Work with a lot of smart people

Cons

Very limited career growth Very limited recognition Too much bureaucracy - it's hard to get anything done and leads to mediocrity Management is unable to make any decision - everyone is scared of being accountable for anything. Lots of politics

4.0

May 31, 2011

Satisfying place to work

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Cutting edge technology with very complex requirements

Cons

Being at the mercy of Congress and different Presidents

3.0

May 20, 2011

Hanging with a bunch of old guys with stories of the glory days while waiting for retirement

Aerospace engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It looks good on a resume. Freedom to come and go as I pleased. Very low stress. Worked on some cool projects

Cons

I was in the aeronautics branch and the average age of the guys I worked with was +50. They had great historical knowledge but were very resistant to any new ideas. Every senior person had projects they had been working on for +10 years and were very protective of anything that had the potential to make their work less relevant or take funding from their pet project. I leaned fast: fall in line with the old timers who control funding sources or don’t get funded.the

Viewing 1747 - 1749 of 1,788 Reviews

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Interesting work, but too much bureaucracy and little accountability

Satisfying place to work

Hanging with a bunch of old guys with stories of the glory days while waiting for retirement

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