Dentist Salary in California: What Dentists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$124,470
Median (50th)
$165,950
75th percentile
$213,260
National median
$170,950
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1021), May 2025
What does a dentist make in California?
The median dentist in California earns $165,950 a year ($79.79 an hour), which is $5,000 below the national median of $170,950, and more than in nearby Nevada ($162,200) but less than in Oregon ($211,690) and Arizona ($194,180). The mean is $170,690.
That ranks 33rd of the 47 states where BLS publishes a dentist median.
Entry-level vs top earners in California
The middle half of California dentists earn $124,470 to $213,260. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $74,510, $11,740 below the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $272,730, $46,900 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in California
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California's 2024 price level at 110.7 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 10.7% above the national average, and housing (index 154.3) runs 54.3% above.
Converted to national average prices, the $165,950 median is worth about $149,880 — $21,070 below the national median of $170,950.
How many dentists work in California
BLS counts about 16,770 dentist jobs in California, 13.5% of the 124,390 nationwide, or 0.921 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dentists hold a 15% larger share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 1.15).
Dentist Salary by City in California
Across the 24 California metro areas where BLS publishes a dentist median, pay runs from $125,230 in Riverside to $222,430 in Hanford, a spread of $97,200.
All dental roles by metro: Fresno · Hanford · Los Angeles · Merced · Modesto · Oxnard · Redding · Riverside · Sacramento · San Francisco · San Jose · Santa Cruz · Stockton · Vallejo · Yuba City
Who's hiring dentists in California now
DentistryHires has 139 open dentist listings in California from 13 employers, the most of them in Sacramento (12).
1 posts hourly pay, from $20 to $27 an hour; 36 post a salary from $50,000 to $460,800 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dentist Regulatory Context in California
Dentist practice in California is regulated by the Dental Board of California.
Scope of practice — what a dentist may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How California Compares
Other dental salaries in California
- Dental Hygienist salary in California: median $124,930, $41,020 below the dentist median
- Dental Assistant salary in California: median $50,110, $115,840 below the dentist median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in California: median $47,410, $118,540 below the dentist median
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.