I work in SoCal for a smaller aerospace firm. According to glassdoor, the pay is pretty decent (a little above average for a software engineer out here), but it really pales in comparison to the numbers I hear people mention when talking about "FAANG" lol.
The cost of living is not less. If you want a 30 minute commute, be prepared to pay through the arse for a 50 year old house in need of serious repairs.
The traffic is an atrocity. I grew up in the Bay Area and never in my life have I seen anything like this.
The benefits can vary from garbage to decent. Where I work, there's free lunch, free dinner, and free (really good) health insurance. OTOH, some other companies have "coffee clubs" and "water clubs" where groups of coworkers donate money to have a monthly supply of water/coffee in their office space.
Oh yeah, and no matter what, if you say you work on space stuff, everyone assumes you work at spacex or nasa. There are no exceptions. lol.
Edit: I realize I probably forgot the upshot. Yeah, this kinda work is pretty darn cool! I also really enjoy doing it, or I'd go work on something else.