Online driver education works the same in all 58 California counties: a 30-hour course, the mailed DL 400C, then the permit test at a DMV office. What changes by place is which DMV office is closest, when it is open, and which licensed driving schools are near you.
Find the nearest DMV office by ZIP code
Enter a California ZIP code to see the 3 nearest of the 162 DMV offices that take permit applications, with hours and straight-line distance from the middle of that ZIP code area. Office data checked 2026-10-05; ZIP areas from the US Census Bureau.
Find your county
Each county with its 2026 population and number of DMV field offices. Linked counties have a full local page; more are added as each page is checked.
County and city guides
Start with your county: it lists every DMV office and city in it. City guides add each city's high schools and nearest offices.
- Alameda County
- Alpine County
- Amador County
- Butte County: Chico
- Calaveras County
- Colusa County
- Contra Costa County
- Del Norte County
- El Dorado County
- Fresno County: Fresno
- Glenn County
- Humboldt County
- Imperial County
- Inyo County
- Kern County: Bakersfield
- Kings County
- Lake County
- Lassen County
- Los Angeles County: Los Angeles
- Madera County
- Marin County
- Mariposa County
- Mendocino County
- Merced County
- Modoc County
- Mono County
- Monterey County
- Napa County
- Nevada County
- Orange County
- Placer County
- Plumas County
- Riverside County
- Sacramento County: Sacramento
- San Benito County
- San Bernardino County
- San Diego County: San Diego
- San Francisco County
- San Joaquin County
- San Luis Obispo County
- San Mateo County
- Santa Barbara County
- Santa Clara County: San Jose
- Santa Cruz County
- Shasta County
- Sierra County
- Siskiyou County
- Solano County
- Sonoma County
- Stanislaus County
- Sutter County
- Tehama County
- Trinity County
- Tulare County
- Tuolumne County
- Ventura County
- Yolo County
- Yuba County
What the DMV office data shows
We counted the DMV's own field office list on 2026-10-05. It has 187 offices, but only 162 list both licensing services and testing on their DMV page, which a permit application needs. The other 25 are business centers for the vehicle industry, commercial truck test centers and offices with limited services, so every count on these pages uses the 162. None lists weekend hours, so a permit or drive test means a school-day visit. 139 open at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays instead of 8 a.m.
- 29 offices are open fewer than five weekdays. Check the days before driving to one.
- 4 counties have no DMV office that takes permit applications (Alpine, Mono, Sierra and Yuba). Families there use an office in a neighboring county.
- Knowledge tests stop at 4:30 p.m. at every office, so an after-school visit needs an early pickup.
The full count, county by county, is on DMV office hours by county.
How these pages are built
Office addresses and hours come from the DMV's field office list, schools from the California Department of Education, populations from the Department of Finance, and driving-school licenses from the DMV license lookup. Each page shows the date the data was checked. Offices, schools and driving schools are placed in their city and county by their location, using the U.S. Census geocoder, not by the city in their mailing address. Office counts include only offices that list licensing services and testing and are open at least one day a week.
Sources
- California DMV field office list (fetched 2026-10-05) (opens in a new tab)
- California Department of Education: public schools directory, 2025-26 (fetched 2026-10-05) (opens in a new tab)
- California Department of Finance: E-1 population estimates, January 1, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- California DMV: Teen drivers (opens in a new tab)
Checked: October 5, 2026. Rules and forms can change; recheck the official page before acting.
See something wrong or out of date? Report a mistake on this page. We read every report and fix confirmed mistakes.