Geography of Car Thefts in the United States

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) each year takes a look at the national picture in terms of car thefts. 

Back in 1984 when NICB first started its annual Hot Spot reports, California still led the nation in overall car thefts, with 161,309 that year.  New York led the nation in number of thefts per registrations at 1,303. 

The peak of car thefts was 1991 with 1.6 million cars stolen that year.  The numbers have been dropping thanks to better automobile technology that makes it easier to track stolen vehicles and increased law enforcement resources on car thefts. 

For 2013, there were less than 700,000 vehicles stolen, a 58% decline since the peak 22 years ago.

Where are the Most Cars Stolen?

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports for 2012, the West had 37% of all car thefts, followed by the South, with 34.8%, the Midwest, with 18.6%, and the Northeast had 9.7% of thefts.

California is the state with the most stolen cars

Thirty years of reporting later and California still tops the list for most cars stolen.  The metropolitan area of Los Angeles-Long Beach earn the top spot for most stolen cars.  With 50,758 cars reported stolen, this area accounted for 7.5% of all stolen cars.  

The area of San Francisco was second with 29,326 cars stolen, and Chicago-Elgin area rounded out the top three with 24,398 thefts.

Which Areas have the Highest Rate of Car Theft?

Every year, the NICB releases its list of car thefts, ranked by per capita car thefts for 380 metropolitan areas in the United States.  

The top ten areas for car thefts are known as hot spots.  Hot spots are areas where the per capita car theft rate ranks as the highest in the nation.  

This year’s annual Hot Spot report shows that cities in California hold nine of the ten top locations for car thefts, with the sole exception being the Spokane-Spokane Valley  Metropolitan Statistical Area in Washington.  The area with the highest rate is Bakersfield where for every 100,000 residents, 725 cars are stolen.

Why Are Car Thefts So High in California?

There are a few factors that experts believe make California such a target for car theft.  

Foremost, California is the most populous state in the nation.  With a population of 38 million, one out of every eight residents call this state home.  

The state is also a land of car owners.  

According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), per capita vehicle ownership in California is 0.94.  A high rate of car ownership coupled with a heavily populated state means there are a lot of cars in California.

The mild weather in most of California also means that older cars stay in action for longer.  Older cars are easier to steal and break down into parts that are resold.  

Easy access to the border with Mexico and large ports also create a market for stealing cars for international destinations.

Table of Car Thefts in the United States

Below is the table created by the NICB showing car thefts in the United States for 2013.  

References

Federal Bureau of Investigations.  2012.  Uniform Crime Reports.  Accessed September 6, 2014.

Hirsch, Jerry.  June 26, 2014.  California cities lead nation in per capita car theft.  Los Angeles Times.  Accessed September 5, 2014.

National Insurance Crime Bureau.  June 2013.  Hot Spots 2013.  Accessed September 3, 2014.  

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