Does CIA pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, CIA employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at CIA. This rating has decreased by 7% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at CIA?

74% of CIA employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated CIA 3.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.3 for culture and values and 3.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at CIA?

Intelligence Analyst (10) , Analyst (8) , Project Manager (4) , Data Scientist (3) , Officer (3) , Operations Officer (3) , Agent (2) , Case Officer (2) , Deputy Director (2) , Logistics Officer (2) , Political Analyst (2) , Science, Technology, and Weapons Analyst (2) , Security Officer (2) , Senior Analyst (2) , Senior Manager (2)

What are the pros of working at CIA according to real employee reviews?

"Pay and benefits are good." ((in 20 reviews)); "Great people, great learning experience, exposure to different aspects of this world is very enlightening." ((in 8 reviews)); "Good Pay and Benefits also if you like the type of work you'll enjoy going to work everyday." ((in 7 reviews)); "lot of exposure to interesting work driving important mission" ((in 5 reviews)); "International travel, impactful work, full time language training, quality co" ((in 5 reviews))

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

"1. Long hours; 2. Sometimes you have to work with people that should have left years ago." ((in 10 reviews)); "Horrible, abusive management." ((in 8 reviews)); "CIA managers are not trained to recognize FMLA or ADA protected absences, particularly for sandwich generation employees, or those with caregiving responsibilities." ((in 3 reviews)); "low salary" ((in 3 reviews))

CIA reviews

3.7

74% would recommend to a friend

(147 total reviews)

William Burns

89% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.9

Career opportunities

3.7

Diversity & inclusion

3.6

Work/Life balance

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.3

Culture & values

2.9

Senior management

CIA has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 147 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The CIA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

147 reviews

5.0

Jun 1, 2026

Unique travel opportunities but long hours and security hassles

Case officer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great travel opportunities, and unique opportunities to do things you wouldn't get to anywhere else.

Cons

Long hours, and invasive security screening process.

3.0

Jan 4, 2026

only work there if you love national security

Science, technology, and weapons analyst

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of really smart and passionate people. Some teams are really interesting to work for.

Cons

Most people are thrown into a random-ish team when they first join, which can sometimes be a poor fit. It's really hard to move around to different career services. Some teams are really slow and a lot of people are self-important and difficult to work with. If you get bad management, you'll hate it there.

4.0

Dec 3, 2025

Can be a great place for the right person.

Political analyst

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

People genuinely care. I like my coworkers, and it really does have a college feel. Good benefits, Great cafeteria and fitness facilities. Impactful work. High pay.

Cons

Overall feels like a never ending grad school class. This is great for some people, just not me. The same people tend to get the cool opportunities that you dream of at CIA, and if you’re not one of them, it’s not worth the isolation from the real world. Management is either great or terrible, and more people should be eternal 14s. Promotion criteria not applied evenly.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 147 Reviews

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Jobs at CIA

CIA

CIA reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Unique travel opportunities but long hours and security hassles

only work there if you love national security

Can be a great place for the right person.

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