California / Motor Vehicles

Agency file

Motor Vehicles

Source file: California — State Employee Compensation (SCO Payroll Data Warehouse, CPRA) / ingested Jul 4, 2026

The Motor Vehicles plans, builds, and maintains transportation infrastructure — roads, bridges, transit, and motor-vehicle services.

In 2025, this agency had 9,009 employees with median total compensation of $65,028; the highest distinct record was $377,445.

Year: 2025
Total payroll: $606.5M
Employees: 9,009
Median total: $65,028
Highest record: $377,445

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

-$19,281$146,366+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2025 total compensation is spread across the 9,009 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($65,028) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $64,493 (96%)
Overtime — $1,079 (2%)
Other — $1,751 (3%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$29,655

$53,069

$65,028

$79,595

$106,308

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $106,308 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $29,655. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Motor Vehicle Representative

3,912 · $56,730

Senior Motor Vehicle Technician

692 · $68,279

Licensing-Registration Examiner, Department of Motor Vehicles

629 · $69,164

Manager I Department of Motor Vehicles

613 · $79,401

Associate Governmental Program Analyst

311 · $78,449

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 3 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2023	$619.9M —	10,272 —	$59,486 —
2024	$605.6M ▼ 2.3%	9,495 ▼ 7.6%	$62,774 ▲ 5.5%
2025	$606.5M ▲ 0.1%	9,009 ▼ 5.1%	$65,028 ▲ 3.6%

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Christopher Whitson

Licensing-Registration Examiner, Department of Motor Vehicles/Motor Vehicles

2024 total comp

-$5,485

Base pay: -$5,485
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: -$5,485
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R07
Work county: San Bernardino
Middle name: E

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $5,670
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5256998758014
Salary Total: $5,925
Total Pay: -$5,485

Christopher Whitson works as a Licensing-Registration Examiner, Department of Motor Vehicles for Motor Vehicles. Their status is full-time. Christopher earned -$5,485 in 2024. Their bargaining unit is R07.

Erick Paiz

Licensing-Registration Examiner, Department of Motor Vehicles/Motor Vehicles

2025 total comp

-$5,713

Base pay: -$5,713
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: -$5,713
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R07
Work county: Los Angeles
Middle name: M

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $5,783
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5255878758006
Salary Total: $5,983
Total Pay: -$5,713

Erick Paiz is a Licensing-Registration Examiner, Department of Motor Vehicles at Motor Vehicles. They work full-time. 2025 total compensation came to -$5,713. They are represented by R07.

Jing Chau

Motor Vehicle Representative/Motor Vehicles

2025 total comp

-$7,742

Base pay: -$7,742
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: -$7,742
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R04
Work county: Sacramento
Middle name: C

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $5,271
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5252431897022
Salary Total: $5,271
Total Pay: -$7,742

At Motor Vehicles, Jing Chau serves as a Motor Vehicle Representative. They work full-time. Their 2025 pay totaled -$7,742. Union affiliation: R04.

Briana Galbraith

Motor Vehicle Representative/Motor Vehicles

2025 total comp

-$10,180

Base pay: -$10,180
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: -$10,180
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R04
Work county: Alameda
Middle name: M

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $5,090
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5255041897026
Salary Total: $5,090
Total Pay: -$10,180

Briana Galbraith works as a Motor Vehicle Representative for Motor Vehicles. Their status is full-time. Briana earned -$10,180 in 2025. They are represented by R04.

Joanna Buskeness

Motor Vehicle Representative/Motor Vehicles

2024 total comp

-$10,799

Base pay: -$10,799
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: -$10,799
Employment type: Full-Time
Union / bargaining unit: R04
Work county: Los Angeles

Source-specific fields

Base Pay: $3,460
Cs/csu: Cs
Position Number: 5252921897029
Salary Total: $3,460
Total Pay: -$10,799

Joanna Buskeness works as a Motor Vehicle Representative for Motor Vehicles. Their status is full-time. Joanna earned -$10,799 in 2024. They are represented by R04.