NIH Employee Reviews about "cost of living"

Pros

Nice people, good food and good pay

Cons

expensive cost of living and no parking.

Pros

Credibility, access to world-renowned PIs, ability to attend valuable seminars in many different biomedical fields.

Cons

Poor pay considering high cost of living in Bethesda area. No accountability for poor mentors.

Pros

Plenty of resources, technical and administrative support; Location is well accessible via subway train and buses

Cons

Lack of support for early career postdoctoral fellows from many of the section chiefs; very high cost of living, compared to the extreme low salary received by postdoctoral research fellows in their later 20s and 30s!!

Pros

great minds, many science opportunity

Cons

low pay, high cost of living

Pros

Great place to work as an NIH post bac fellow

Cons

Low salary for high cost of living

Pros

Health Insurance, Stipend is taxed less so save some $$ in taxes, commuter benefits

Cons

High Cost of Living, low salary

Pros

Positive, encouraging work environment. Plenty of opportunity for growth and promotion.

Cons

Salary for cost of living in DC is not the best.

Pros

It is a temporary job that were you can learn a lot in research but many of us realize this line of work is not for us.

Cons

Pay is low for the cost of living. It can be a hit or miss when picking a lab. Research environments are not always conducive for coworkers/bosses with good people skills.

Pros

Obviously, the NIH is probably one of the only places in the US where you can do cutting-edge biomedical research with fairly flexible budgets. For postdocs, they also provide opportunities to attend meetings, although this has decreased during my time here due to the budget crunch.

Cons

The salary for a postdoctoral fellow is absolutely horrible. I have been here for 5 years and we have had no pay increases, while the cost of living goes up and up and up. Living in the DC region on the pay they give is pretty much impossible unless you are willing to give up comfort - who works hard enough to get a PhD in order to do that? You had better be married with a second income, and preferably without children if you want to make it work. It is very depressing when there are technicians without anything beyond a Bachelor's Degree making twice what postdocs make, and they get benefits too.

Pros

Great group to learn and network

Cons

Pay is low for the cost of living