> NASA, which follows the federal government’s General Schedule pay scales, offers starting salaries along a range that starts at $54,557 for engineers with bachelor’s degrees, $66,731 for master’s degrees and $73,038 for doctorates at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
I know people likely want to join NASA for more than the salary. But that's brutal.
One thing is Florida is much cheaper than SoCal where SpaceX is located, so there's some COLA to be made. But still quite bad.
I have the impression the motivation to join, and remain, at NASA (or ESA) goes beyond salary. That said, SpaceX is actually doing a lot of things that ARE what motivates people that's not compensation-related.
pay more, offer better pensions, etc. I don't think people join NASA for the money anyway