1How to use the official DMV locator

The DMV’s own office finder is the only source you should trust for locations, hours, and services. Here’s how to get the most out of it:

1. Start at the official locator: dmv.ca.gov/portal/locations/

2. Search two ways. Click “Find a location near me” to use your device’s location (your browser will ask permission), or type a ZIP code or city name into the search box.

3. Set your distance. The filter offers Any, 10, 25, or 40 miles. If your nearest office has no appointments, widening to 25 or 40 miles often surfaces offices with sooner availability — offices serve all California residents regardless of address.

4. Pick the right location type. This is the filter most people skip, and it’s the most important one:

• Field Offices — full-service DMV offices.
• Kiosk — self-service machines (see below).
• Business Partners — authorized private businesses for registration-type tasks.

5. Filter by the exact service you need. This is the insider move. Instead of driving to an office and hoping, filter by service first — Automobile Driving Test, Written Knowledge Test, New Application, Title Transfers, and more. If an office doesn’t list your service, pick another one.

Each office in the results links to its own official page showing its address, hours, services, payments accepted, nearby kiosks and partners — and current wait times (more on reading those below).

2Know your office types

Not every DMV location does the same things. Going to the wrong type is one of the most common wasted trips:

Location type	What it’s for	Watch out
Field Office	Full service: licensing, testing, registration, titles, plates	Hours vary by office; check before you go
Driver License Processing Center	Driver licenses and ID cards only	No vehicle registration here — a separate, DL/ID-focused facility
Commercial Drive Test Center	Commercial driving tests	Not for regular Class C drive tests
DMV Now Kiosk	Self-service touchscreen: registration renewal, records, and similar tasks	Located at select field offices and retail stores (grocery stores); follows store hours, often early morning to late night daily
Business Partner	Authorized dealers and registration services: renewals, plates, stickers, title transfers, reports of sale	Not a government agency — they may charge an additional service fee, but waits are often much shorter
DMV Service Center	Business services for vehicle-industry customers	Not a walk-in public office
Driver Safety Office	Administrative hearings and re-examinations	By scheduling only — not for regular transactions

The practical takeaway: before you choose a location, match the location type to your task. Registration renewal? A kiosk or business partner might save you the trip entirely. First license? You need a field office (or DL center for the license part).

3California DMV office hours: the pattern

Most field offices follow the same weekly rhythm:

• Monday–Tuesday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Wednesday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (late opening)
• Thursday–Friday: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Saturday–Sunday: closed

But treat this as a starting point, not a promise. Variants exist — some drive-test centers run 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, for example — and hours change: offices adjust seasonally, and the DMV has opened select offices early during busy summer months in past years. Offices are closed on state holidays.

Two warnings from the field:

1. Stale “open Saturday” claims are everywhere. Old articles and crowd-sourced map listings still claim dozens of offices open Saturdays. Per the DMV’s own office pages, the current pattern is closed weekends. Don’t trust a random site’s hours — trust the office’s official page.
2. Always check the office’s page the day before you go. It takes thirty seconds on the official locator and it beats a wasted drive.

For the whole picture in one place — the standard weekly pattern, Wednesday’s late opening, Saturday availability, and state-holiday closures — see our California DMV hours guide and the full DMV holidays 2026–2027 schedule.

4How to read the official wait times

Every official field-office page shows two live wait-time numbers:

• Appointment — the current estimated wait if you have a booked slot.
• No appointment — the current estimated wait if you walk in.

The gap between those two numbers is the entire argument for booking ahead: it’s common to see something like 30 minutes with an appointment versus well over an hour without one.

Three things to know:

1. They’re live. The numbers change through the day as the line moves. We deliberately don’t republish them here — any static number would be wrong within the hour.
2. Check the morning of your visit. That’s when the numbers are useful for deciding whether to keep your plan or pick a different office.
3. “No appointment” doesn’t mean “no service.” It means you’ll wait in the walk-in line. For some simple tasks at quieter offices that can be fine; for anything time-sensitive, book.

For typical wait times and the best times to visit, see our California DMV wait times guide. For the Bay Area specifically — which office is fastest, the early openers, and the Saturday option — see our shortest wait Bay Area DMV guide.

Walking in without an appointment? The same-day path is the DMV’s virtual queue — see our DMV walk-in guide for which services accept walk-ins, the queue hours, and what to bring.

Planning the whole visit? Our California DMV survival guide covers whether you need to go at all, which door fits your errand, the documents for every service, the live wait-time display, and what to do when things go wrong.

5Booking an appointment at a specific office

Offices don’t take bookings at the door or over a direct phone line — everything runs through the DMV’s central systems:

• Online: the official scheduler at dmv.ca.gov/portal/appointments/select-location/S/ — choose your service, enter your ZIP, and pick from offices with real availability.
• By phone: 1-800-777-0133 — automated services 24/7; live representatives Monday–Friday, 8 am–5 pm. TTY: 1-800-368-4327.
• Cost: booking is free. Anyone charging you a fee to “book” a DMV appointment is not the DMV.

For the full walkthrough — which appointment type to pick, what to do when nothing’s available, and how to change or cancel — see our California DMV appointment guide.

Going today instead of booking ahead? The DMV’s same-day virtual queue, Get in Line, is still live — join online from home or scan the QR code at the office entrance. See our DMV Get in Line guide for how both ways work, the queue hours, and what it cannot do (drive tests are appointment-only). Already booked and running late? See our late for your DMV appointment guide for what happens and the same-day rescue. For the full same-day playbook — a calendar slot today as well as the queue — see our same-day DMV appointment guide.

Prefer to handle it by phone? See our California DMV phone number guide for the right number for each service.

6Major metro areas

California’s offices cluster where the people are. These are the five metro areas we’re covering first with detailed office pages — each will get hours, services, drive-test notes, and booking guidance per office:

7Los Angeles area office guides

Detailed, verified guides for individual offices — hours, services, kiosk info, and how to book:

• Los Angeles DMV (Hope Street) — the main downtown field office, full services + kiosk
• Hollywood DMV — limited-service office (no registration/title work)
• Van Nuys DMV — San Fernando Valley, full services + kiosk
• Long Beach DMV — full services + kiosk
• Pasadena DMV — San Gabriel Valley, full services + kiosk
• Arleta DMV — San Fernando Valley field office

8More metro office guides

Detailed, verified guides for individual offices:

• San Diego DMV (Clairemont) — main full-service San Diego office + kiosk
• San Jose DMV — full-service field office; don’t confuse it with the DL Processing Center
• Sacramento DMV — Broadway office + kiosk, with nearby alternatives
• Fresno DMV San Francisco1377 Fell Street Oakland5300 Claremont Avenue Riverside6280 Brockton Avenue Riverside East6425 Sycamore Canyon Boulevard Bakersfield3120 F Street — Central Valley hub + kiosk, plus the commercial-test-center distinction
• Fresno North DMV — north Fresno field office on Blackstone Avenue; full services + kiosk, plus the IBC same-address distinction
• Madera DMV — the county seat and the only DMV field office in Madera County; full-time, full-service office on Maple Street with a kiosk inside, drive, motorcycle, and written tests, and REAL ID — the closest office is Fresno North (17.9 miles, kiosk inside), then Fresno (Olive Avenue) (19.3 miles, kiosk inside); no CDL test here (nearest Modesto), and it is NOT the “Corte Madera DMV” — Corte Madera is a different city in Marin County, about 150 miles away
• Merced DMV — Merced County’s county-seat office; full-time, full-service office on W 12th Street with knowledge and behind-the-wheel tests, and REAL ID — closed Saturdays, Wednesday opens 9 am, and closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day; kiosk on site — the only kiosk in Merced or Atwater — and Atwater, Winton, Livingston, Gustine, Dos Palos, and Chowchilla have no office of their own, so Merced is theirs; Los Banos, the county’s only other office, is open Tuesdays and Thursdays only
• Bishop DMV — Inyo County’s only DMV field office, open Tuesday and Thursday only, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm; two days a week on West Line Street, with drive, motorcycle, written, and CDL tests, REAL ID, and no kiosk anywhere in the county — the nearest office is Fresno North (84.2 miles, kiosk inside), and Ridgecrest (125.1 miles) keeps the opposite days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so the two together cover every weekday on US 395; closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day
• Crescent City DMV — Del Norte County’s only DMV field office, in the county seat, open Tuesday and Thursday only, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, at 1475 Parkway Drive; drive, motorcycle, and written tests and REAL ID, but no CDL test and no kiosk anywhere in the county — the nearest office that can help you is Eureka (67.0 miles, kiosk inside, CDL test site), and Yreka (79.5 miles) keeps the opposite days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the Oregon offices are closer but cannot do California business; closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day
• Alturas DMV — Modoc County’s only DMV field office, in the county seat, open Tuesday and Thursday only, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:30 to 5:00 pm, at 903 W C St; drive, motorcycle, and written tests and REAL ID, but no CDL test and no kiosk anywhere in the county — the nearest office that can help you is Fall River Mills (57.2 miles), and Susanville (74.8 miles) keeps the opposite days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the Oregon offices are closer but cannot do California business; closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day
• Weaverville DMV — Trinity County’s only DMV field office, in the county seat, open Tuesday and Thursday only, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:15 to 5:00 pm, at 1511 Main Street; drive, motorcycle, and written tests and REAL ID, but no CDL test and no kiosk anywhere in the county — the nearest office that can help you is Redding (30.8 miles), and Red Bluff (52.7 miles) keeps the opposite days, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day
• Carmichael DMV — Sacramento-area office, on North Ave
• Modesto DMV — Central Valley field office
• Santa Clara DMV — Silicon Valley field office
• Santa Ana DMV — Orange County’s main field office; drive tests + kiosk
• Stockton DMV — San Joaquin County’s main field office; drive tests + kiosk
• Chula Vista DMV — San Diego County’s South Bay main office; drive tests + kiosk
• El Cajon DMV — San Diego County’s East County office (Graves Avenue); full nine services, on-site kiosk, five grocery kiosks nearby
• Irvine DMV — no office in Irvine; nearest full offices in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana & Westminster + an in-city kiosk
• San Bernardino DMV — San Bernardino County’s county-seat main office; drive tests + kiosk
• Fremont DMV — East Bay south-anchor office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, nearby Safeway kiosk
• Hayward DMV — East Bay central-corridor office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, in-city Safeway kiosk, two BART stations
• Oakland Coliseum DMV — East Oakland field office; full-service office Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), with a self-service kiosk inside and four grocery-store kiosks nearby; reopened November 10, 2025 after a seven-month closure; the office for San Leandro and Alameda, neither of which has a field office of its own
• Concord DMV — central Contra Costa office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Safeway kiosk, seven partners
• Glendale DMV — Los Angeles County full-service office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, nearby-office services guide
• Santa Clarita (Newhall) DMV — Los Angeles County full-service office listed under its historic Newhall name; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, Santa Clarita kiosk cluster
• Visalia DMV — Tulare County county-seat office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, Tulare kiosk cluster
• Lancaster DMV — Antelope Valley anchor office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Palmdale has no field office — Lancaster is its office
• Rancho Cucamonga DMV — Inland Empire full-service office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Ontario has no field office — Rancho Cucamonga is its office
• Santa Rosa DMV — Sonoma County seat office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Rohnert Park and San Rafael have no field office — Santa Rosa is their office
• Eureka DMV — Humboldt County seat office; drive tests incl. CDL, on-site kiosk, Garberville open Tue/Thu only — Eureka is the county’s full-time office
• Yreka DMV — Siskiyou County seat office; open Mon/Wed/Fri only, Mt Shasta open Tue/Thu — Yreka is the county’s Mon/Wed/Fri office, no kiosk, no CDL test
• Red Bluff DMV — Tehama County seat office and the county’s only DMV; open Mon/Wed/Fri only, Willows open Tue/Thu — no kiosk anywhere in the county, no CDL test, nearest kiosk in Chico
• Grass Valley DMV — Nevada County western office; open Mon/Wed/Fri only, Auburn open Tue/Thu — Truckee is the county’s second office (full-time), Nevada City has none, no kiosk anywhere in the county, no CDL test, nearest kiosk in Yuba City or Rocklin
• Auburn DMV — Placer County seat office; full-time Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), one of three Placer County offices — Auburn is the county’s foothill office and the only one of the three without a kiosk; Rocklin and Roseville have kiosks, no CDL test at any of the three
• Roseville DMV — Placer County largest-city office; full-time Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), one of three Placer County offices — Roseville is the county’s retail-core office with a kiosk inside; Rocklin also has a kiosk, Auburn does not, no CDL test at any of the three
• Elk Grove DMV — Sacramento County phantom guide; no field office in Elk Grove, nearest offices Sacramento South, Broadway & Carmichael, in-city Safeway kiosk
• Sacramento South DMV — Sacramento County’s south-side field office on La Mancha Way; full nine services, on-site kiosk, Elk Grove’s nearest office
• Salinas DMV — Monterey County county-seat office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Salinas Valley + Monterey Peninsula office, CDTC trap explained
• Watsonville DMV — Santa Cruz County Pajaro Valley office; full-time Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), one of two Santa Cruz County offices — Watsonville is the county’s south-end office with no kiosk; Capitola is the north-county office, also no kiosk, no CDL test at either
• Sonora DMV — Tuolumne County’s only DMV field office; full-time Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), county-seat office in the Queen of the Southern Mines — the only office for the whole 2,274-square-mile county, no kiosk, no CDL test; nearest kiosk and CDL test are Modesto
• South Lake Tahoe DMV — El Dorado County’s lake-basin office; full-time Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open) at 6,237 feet on the South Shore — the county’s second office (Placerville is the county seat), no kiosk, no CDL test; nearest kiosk is Folsom and nearest CDL test is West Sacramento
• Susanville DMV — Lassen County’s only DMV field office; county-seat office open Mon/Wed/Fri only (Wed 9 am open) at 4,186 feet in the high desert — the only office for the whole county, no kiosk, no CDL test; nearest kiosk and nearest AAA branch are Chico, nearest CDL test is Redding
• Indio DMV — the Coachella Valley’s eastern anchor; full-time, full-service office on Jackson Street with a kiosk inside, drive, motorcycle, and written tests, and REAL ID — the closest office is Palm Desert (9.1 miles, kiosk inside), then Palm Springs (19 miles, no kiosk); no CDL test here (nearest El Centro), and it is NOT the county seat and NOT the county’s only office — Riverside County has nine field offices
• Oxnard DMV — Ventura County full-service office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Oxnard Express trap, Santa Barbara closure alternates
• Temecula DMV — Riverside County full-service office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, Murrieta Express limited-service trap, Temecula Valley kiosk cluster
• Santa Maria DMV — Santa Barbara County north-county office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, two South Broadway grocery kiosks, Santa Barbara closure alternates
• Victorville DMV — San Bernardino County High Desert office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, Wednesday 9 a.m. opening, Victor Valley grocery kiosk cluster, Hesperia/Apple Valley no-office correction
• Daly City DMV — San Mateo County Peninsula office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, two Safeway kiosks, South San Francisco/Colma no-office correction
• San Mateo DMV — San Mateo County Peninsula office; drive tests, no on-site kiosk, 24-hour Safeway kiosks in Belmont and Redwood City, EV Auto Service partner in the city
• Redwood City DMV — San Mateo County seat office; full-service office Mon–Fri (Wed 9 am open), with a self-service kiosk inside and two 24-hour Safeway kiosks nearby; the office for Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Belmont, and San Carlos, none of which has a field office of its own
• Bakersfield Southwest DMV — Kern County southwest-Bakersfield office, TEMPORARILY CLOSED for renovations until Tuesday, November 24, 2026; go to F Street first, with Arvin, Taft, Delano, Shafter, three grocery kiosks, and four partners as alternatives
• Culver City DMV — Los Angeles County Westside office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, four grocery kiosks, Inglewood closed-all-fortnight warning
• Chico DMV — Butte County’s largest-city office; full-time, full-service office on Parmac Road with a kiosk inside, knowledge and behind-the-wheel tests, and REAL ID — closed Saturdays, Wednesday opens 9 am, and closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day; Oroville (25 miles south) is the county seat’s office, and Red Bluff is open Mon/Wed/Fri only
• Redding DMV — Shasta County’s county-seat office; full-time, full-service office on Civic Center Drive with knowledge and behind-the-wheel tests, and REAL ID — closed Saturdays, Wednesday opens 9 am, and closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day; no kiosk inside the office — the nearest kiosk is at FoodMaxx on Churn Creek Road — and Red Bluff is open Mon/Wed/Fri only
• Vallejo DMV — Solano County’s largest-city office; full-time, full-service office on Couch Street with knowledge and behind-the-wheel tests, and REAL ID — closed Saturdays, Wednesday opens 9 am, and closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day; no kiosk inside the office — the nearest kiosk is at Safeway on Rubles Drive — and Benicia and American Canyon have no office of their own, so Vallejo is theirs
• Fairfield DMV — Solano County’s county-seat office; full-time, full-service office on Serrano Drive with knowledge and behind-the-wheel tests, and REAL ID — closed Saturdays, Wednesday opens 9 am, and closed Wednesday, November 11 for Veterans Day; kiosk on site — the only kiosk in the Fairfield, Vacaville, and Suisun City area — and Suisun City, Dixon, Rio Vista, and Benicia have no office of their own, so Fairfield is theirs; do not confuse it with the Fairfield IBC on Westamerica Drive, which serves dealers only
• West Hollywood DMV — Los Angeles County Formosa Avenue office; vehicle-side only — title, registration, plates, replacements and records, no licensing or testing — on-site kiosk, Ralphs kiosk on Sunset Boulevard
• Santa Monica DMV — Los Angeles County coastal office; full nine services — licences, REAL ID, tests, titles, registration, plates — on-site kiosk, three grocery kiosks, Inglewood closed-all-fortnight warning
• Lincoln Park DMV — Los Angeles County Mission Road office; full-service east-side anchor — all nine services incl. licences and drive tests, on-site kiosk, Avenue 45 and Figueroa grocery kiosks; the office a directory wrongly places inside a grocery store
• Santa Teresa DMV — South San Jose office (Martinvale Lane); full nine services, on-site kiosk, three Safeway kiosks nearby; San Jose’s second field office alongside Alma Avenue
• San Ysidro DMV — San Diego County’s border office (Business Center Court); full nine services, on-site kiosk, four grocery kiosks nearby; California’s southernmost full-service office
• Oceanside DMV — San Diego County’s North County coastal office (Plaza Drive); full nine services, on-site kiosk, two grocery kiosks in town, Camp Pendleton next door
• Moreno Valley DMV — Riverside County phantom guide (no office in Moreno Valley); nearest is Riverside East, 3.9 miles away, two grocery kiosks in town, Perris has no office either
• Riverside East DMV — Riverside County east-side full-service office; drive tests, on-site kiosk, Moreno Valley / UC Riverside / March ARB catchment, two-Riverside disambiguation
• Fontana DMV — San Bernardino County’s western Inland Empire office (Hemlock Avenue); full nine services, on-site kiosk, three grocery kiosks in town, plus a separate Commercial Drive Test Center on Poplar Avenue
• Torrance DMV — Los Angeles County South Bay office (West 220th Street); full nine services, on-site kiosk, eight grocery kiosks nearby, plus the San Pedro and Inglewood closed-all-fortnight warnings
• Pomona DMV — Los Angeles County Pomona Valley anchor (1600 S Garey Ave); full nine services, on-site kiosk, two in-city grocery kiosks, plus the Ontario/Claremont/Chino no-office corrections and the Norco-office resolution
• West Covina DMV — Los Angeles County central San Gabriel Valley anchor (800 So Glendora Ave); full nine services, on-site kiosk, plus the El Monte no-kiosk trap and the Covina/Baldwin Park/Azusa no-office corrections
• El Monte DMV — Los Angeles County San Gabriel Valley trap office (4000 Arden Dr); eight services, NO kiosk on site, plus the Superior Grocers Valley Blvd kiosk cure and the South El Monte / Rosemead / Temple City / San Gabriel / Alhambra no-office corrections
• Whittier DMV — Los Angeles County Gateway Cities anchor (9338 S Painter Ave); full nine services with an on-site kiosk, plus the Ralphs kiosk open to 1 AM, the Placentia IBC trap, and the Pico Rivera / Downey / Norwalk / Santa Fe Springs / La Mirada / La Habra no-office corrections
• Fullerton DMV — Orange County north-county anchor (909 W Valencia Dr); full nine services with an on-site kiosk, plus the Albertsons Malvern kiosk open 5 AM–11 PM daily, the Placentia IBC trap, the permanently closed Anaheim DLPC, and the Brea / La Habra / Orange / Buena Park no-office corrections
• Costa Mesa DMV — Orange County coastal anchor (650 W 19th St); full nine services with an on-site kiosk, plus the Ralphs kiosk open 5 AM–1 AM daily, the permanently closed Laguna Hills office, and the Newport Beach / Irvine no-office corrections

More office pages on the way. Until they publish, the official locator above is your source for any specific office’s hours and services — we won’t guess.

Until they publish, the official locator above is your source for any specific office’s hours and services — we won’t guess.

9Before you drive there: the checklist

1. Confirm the office offers your service — use the locator’s service filter, not guesswork.
2. Check today’s hours on the office’s official page — especially Wednesdays (late opening) and around holidays.
3. Check for closure news — the DMV announces temporary closures (renovations, painting) via news releases; the office’s page reflects current status.
4. Gather your documents — see our document checklist for exactly what to bring, originals only.
5. Bring your appointment confirmation — the email or confirmation number from your booking.

And one more time-saver: many tasks don’t need an office at all. Registration renewals, driver and vehicle records, and replacement licenses get no counter service — do them online, at a kiosk, by mail, or through a business partner instead of booking an appointment you don’t need.

10Frequently asked questions

Last verified against dmv.ca.gov: October 2026. Hours, services, and closures change — the office’s official page is always the final word.