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 91 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 time off." ((in 66 reviews)); "Good work environment and people" ((in 59 reviews))

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

"Low pay and bureaucracy to deal with" ((in 149 reviews)); "Government salaries are low and therefore it's hard to subsist in CA without a higher salary." ((in 59 reviews)); "no management pretty much do what u want" ((in 31 reviews)); "Long hours and lots of talking about sending people into space." ((in 30 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.

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NASA

NASA reviews

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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

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Parent or family caregiver

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Reviews by job title

2K reviews

5.0

Feb 23, 2011

very cool stuff, learned a lot

Summer intern

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Depends on the group, but mine had some pretty cool people and the work was legitimately interesting. besides that the location is great - weather is always perfect, lots of good restaurants nearby, and there are fun things like centrifuges and wind tunnels on the Ames campus.

Cons

Their cafeteria food is ... cafeteria-grade. It depends on your group. Some of them appear to be largely populated by very old people.

4.0

Nov 7, 2010

NASA Ames Research Center

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It is a very friendly place to work. Great sense of community.

Cons

Work is not very challenging

4.0

Oct 19, 2010

Researcher

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Work environment is very laid back; competent peers and employees. Great job perks. Great communication of ideas across research groups and departments.

Cons

Getting approval for projects, etc, takes much longer than in industry... Requires a lot of patience as there is no real deadline driven environment.

Viewing 1756 - 1758 of 1,788 Reviews

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