$Who Earns What
US NASA astronaut (senior, GS-15 pay grade)

How much does N/A (role-based pay scale, e.g. any GS-15 NASA astronaut/senior astronaut) make?

Answer: An experienced, senior NASA astronaut reaches GS-15 and earns about $170,618 a year, including Houston locality pay.

Yearly salary (2026)
$170,618

Official statistics This is one year's salary at the top pay grade for an experienced astronaut.

N/A (role-based pay scale, e.g. any GS-15 NASA astronaut/senior astronaut)$170,618
Typical person in the US$50,980

About 3.3× the Typical person in the US.

Related people

👤N/A (role-based pay scale, e.g. any GS-13 NASA astronaut)👤Jay Bhattacharya👤N/A / AAUP survey average (not a named individual)👤N/A (prize amount, not tied to one laureate)

Sources and data

Sources: opm.gov. “Estimated” figures come from news or magazines, not from the person. Assets are self-reported at disclosure time, with land counted at its tax value.