Is NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory a good company to work for?

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has an overall rating of 3.9 out of 5, based on over 1,851 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months. 70% of employees would recommend working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to a friend and 17% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been left by employees working as Summer Intern , Software Engineer(Internship) and Intern .

Does NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory?

70% of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.5 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory?

Intern (136) , Systems Engineer (63) , Mechanical Engineer (38) , Software Engineer (37) , Internship (32) , Engineer (31) , Software Engineer(Internship) (25) , Summer Intern (22) , Postdoctoral Fellow (19) , Intern - Hourly (15) , Senior Software Engineer (15) , Member Of Technical Staff (13) , Research Intern (13) , Engineering Intern (12) , Software Engineer Intern (12)

What are the pros of working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"Full of open minded and great people willing to help" ((in 178 reviews)); "Great work/life balance (if flight project deadline is not coming up soon)" ((in 86 reviews)); "The JPL campus is beautiful as well." ((in 49 reviews)); "Good benefits when properly employed (is what I heard)" ((in 44 reviews)); "Great campus and coworkers." ((in 43 reviews))

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

"Low pay and quite stressful at times" ((in 88 reviews)); "Low salary paid to entry level engineers compared to industry." ((in 43 reviews)); "No or limited parking for interns" ((in 36 reviews)); "Recent layoffs weren't as transparent." ((in 32 reviews)); "Some managers have no business being managers because they can't delegate (this is true across NASA)." ((in 22 reviews))

What are employees saying about NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory layoffs and their outlook for job security at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2026.

What are the top reviewed NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory locations?

Pasadena , Los Angeles , La Canada Flintridge , La Canada , Houston , South Pasadena , New York , Bozeman , Pasadena , San Antonio , Glendale , Thousand Oaks , Riverside , Berkeley , Cambridge , Califon , East Brunswick , Huntsville , Tempe , Omaha , Texas City , Morgantown , Knoxville , Altadena , Culver City , Huntington Beach , Irvine , Orange , Pomona , San Gabriel

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NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory reviews

3.9

70% would recommend to a friend

(1,128 total reviews)

Dr. Laurie Leshin

59% approve of CEO

17% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.1

Diversity & inclusion

4.1

Work/Life balance

3.9

Culture & values

3.5

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Career opportunities

3.1

Senior management

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,128 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospace & Defense industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

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Reviews by job title

1K reviews

5.0

Oct 7, 2008

Extremely interesting work, decent pay, good people...if you don't mind LA.

Hardware engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The work itself is extremely interesting. I worked on the percussive drill for Mars Science Laboratory, a flight project. Every day, some new challenge arose, keeping things fresh. Everyone there is also extremely smart, so its easy to learn a lot.

Cons

There tends to be a culture of over achievement. For flight projects especially, people will work absurd hours to get the job done. This may not be a bad thing depending on your point of view I guess. The pay level, however is not commensurate with the amount of time put in by some people there. My organization had no management issues, but some others had clueless, politics-playing managers, making their jobs pretty difficult.

4.0

Aug 12, 2008

Good overall company

Hardware engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Challenging, demanding, state of the art work. Employees are very smart, competent and willing to teach newcomers. Funding comes from the federal government. Work is somewhat stable compared to other aerospace companies. Great seminars on different topics for employees looking to learn about other fields.

Cons

Too much work not enough people. There are certain areas where the company is understaffed and unwilling to hire. Certain employees are expected to do what's necessary to do the work regardless of the work/life balance. Working on weekends is expected even when overtime is not paid.

3.0

Jun 17, 2008

Not bad, but needs work to become excellent.

It project manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It's exciting to have the opportunity to contribute to something that matters: space exploration. It's a great feeling to know that your work contributes to the overall good of society rather than just chasing profits. In addition, I look forward to the time that my grandchildren read about JPL's successful projects in their history books and ask me what it was really like. JPL has a very friendly workforce. There are many kind and considerate people working here. The work environment is open enough that there are many opportunities to advance technical skills, as long as you're self-motivated to do so.

Cons

Compensation is not tied to performance, but is based on the idea of "salary management". Management is very concerned with keeping compensation somewhat competitive with what similar institutions are paying. However, there is not much consideration of financial reward for performance. Some IT technical decisions are based on organizational culture or politics rather than technical merit. While one technology may be a perfect fit for a project, another choice is often selected to avoid making some organizations or people unhappy. Promotions are based on who you know rather than what you've done. It takes forever to get things done. There is quite a bit of process control and bureaucracy in place here. Wading through the red tape makes even simple tasks very complex

Viewing 1126 - 1128 of 1,128 Reviews

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Jobs at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Human Resources Support Specialist IV

Digital Communications Specialist II

Business Operations Administrator III

Business Administrator II

Lab Communications Specialist III-1

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Extremely interesting work, decent pay, good people...if you don't mind LA.

Good overall company

Not bad, but needs work to become excellent.

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