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California Department of Motor Vehicles entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
California Department of Motor Vehicles starts at $76,068 a year — about $36.57 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $9,383 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $10,902 above the median for state agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in California run about 11% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $68,703 somewhere at average prices — $7,365 less than the headline figure. Most of that is utilities, at 159 against a national average of 100, where goods are 106. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
What California Department of Motor Vehicles says about itself
The DMV Investigations Division protects the programs and interests of the department and public through active fraud and counterfeit detection, investigation, audit and enforcement services. The Investigations Division diligently enforces laws, rules, and regulations that apply to new and used vehicle dealers, brokers, dismantlers, registration services, vehicle verifiers, misuse of disabled person parking placards and plates, driving schools or traffic violator schools, and other vehicle-related businesses. It houses the DMV's own sworn peace officers as the department's law enforcement branch, investigating crimes involving the motor vehicle industry including identity theft, fraud at a dealership and document counterfeiting.
What California Department of Motor Vehicles does
DMV Investigations operates in a law-enforcement capacity and conducts criminal investigations involving document and identity integrity, public funds, internal security, office burglaries, record tampering and other crimes. Investigators make arrests, issue citations, serve search warrants and participate in multi-agency investigations.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. California CalCareers — DMV Investigator, JC-523457 — open the source document
$76,068. Posted 2026; final filing 30 July 2026
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where California Department of Motor Vehicles sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. California Department of Motor Vehicles starts at $76,068, so $10,902 above the state middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a California Department of Motor Vehicles officer make?
California Department of Motor Vehicles starts a new officer on $76,068 a year, about $36.57 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from California CalCareers — DMV Investigator, JC-523457.
Is that good pay for a police officer in California?
It ranks #242 of 278 agencies we have verified in California — 36 pay less, 241 pay more in the state — and #620 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $9,383 above, and against other state agencies $10,902 above.
Compare with another department
Put California Department of Motor Vehicles side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in CA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs California | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara Police Department | Municipal | 141 | $163,619 | +$87,551 | #1 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety | Municipal | 227 | $149,443 | +$73,375 | #2 |
| 3 | Redwood City Police Department | Municipal | 83 | $147,942 | +$71,874 | #3 |
| 4 | San Jose Police Department | Municipal | 1,065 | $144,003 | +$67,935 | #4 |
| 5 | Mountain View Police Department | Municipal | 90 | $143,096 | +$67,028 | #5 |
| 6 | San Mateo Police Department | Municipal | 111 | $141,024 | +$64,956 | #6 |
| 7 | Los Altos Police Department | Municipal | 31 | $139,740 | +$63,672 | #7 |
| 8 | Hayward Police Department | Municipal | 171 | $138,965 | +$62,897 | #8 |
| 9 | Milpitas Police Department | Municipal | 84 | $138,261 | +$62,193 | #9 |
| 10 | Los Gatos Police Department | Municipal | 34 | $132,394 | +$56,326 | #10 |
| 11 | Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office | County | 1,071 | $132,263 | +$56,195 | #11 |
| 12 | Menlo Park Police Department | Municipal | 43 | $132,036 | +$55,968 | #12 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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