These Are The Cities (CBSA) With Most Car Theft In The US

Car theft is an unfortunate reality of the world in which we live. While authorities usually recover nearly half of all stolen vehicles within a couple of days, that still doesn't diminish how unpleasant it can be. Nor does it make up for how pervasive the problem is across the U.S. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau's (NICB) data, thieves stole just over 3.5 million vehicles nationwide from 2020 to 2024. On a positive note, there was a significant 17% reduction nationwide from 2023 to 2024, which is great. However, that still leaves the country with 850,708 thefts, with a handful of metro areas proving to be notable hot spots. You're probably expecting Los Angeles and San Francisco to be among those, and you'd be right, but what other cities rank highly for car thefts?

We've compiled a list of the core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) that had the most reported car thefts in 2024, based on data provided to us by the NICB. Note that we're not implying anything about the safety or quality of life in these cities. This is purely about the total number of vehicle thefts — nothing more, nothing less. We'll also discuss theft rates (i.e., thefts per 100,000 inhabitants), but that metric hasn't impacted how we sorted the cities. Is your city on the list? Only one way to find out.

The first CBSA of this baker's dozen of criminality is the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area, which is the state of Georgia's only representation here. As will become a trend across all the following CBSAs, the Atlanta area recorded a pleasing 20% drop in thefts between 2023 and 2024, with 2024's 15,894 thefts a significant decrease from the 19,815 that the NICB recorded for 2023. Thefts in the Atlanta CBSA accounted for about 67% of the 23,495 recorded in the entire state — 750 of which were Hyundai Elantras, the most-stolen vehicle nationwide in 2024.

Residents — or anyone who has a soft spot for Atlanta — can find some extra solace in the fact that it also has one of the lowest theft rates of the cities on this list. Its population of around 6.4 million makes for just 252 thefts per 100,000 people. This gives it the honor of being one of only two cities on this list with a theft rate of around 250, and one of three below 300.

Despite being one of the most populated states in the U.S., with an estimated 23.37 million inhabitants as of 2024, Florida only has one CBSA that makes it onto this list, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach CBSA. It's roughly 6.4 million inhabitants suffered 16,317 thefts in 2024, with 8,530 of those occurring in Miami-Dade County proper. Both CBSA and county-level thefts saw major drops from 2023, though, with 18% and 20% drops from 20,014 and 10,627 thefts, respectively. Things are definitely looking up for the Sunshine State in terms of vehicle thefts, at least.

The combination of a large population on a CBSA level and its 12th place in terms of total theft volume means that the theft rate in Miami is also quite low. It's one of the three cities with fewer than 300 thefts per 100,000 people, although its theft rate of 263.89 per NICB data means it can't quite join the 250-and-below club. And if you were wondering what the most-stolen car in Florida was in 2024, it was — surprise, surprise — the Hyundai Elantra.

We continue with single-entry states and move into the Rocky Mountains city of Denver, Colorado. Even though the Denver CBSA is one of the least-populated ones on our list, with a hair over 3 million inhabitants as of 2024, the city's vehicle thieves stole 17,984 vehicles in 2024, with many of those likely being the ever-popular Hyundai Elantra. On the plus side, that number represents a massive 27% reduction from 2023, when 24,711 cars were stolen. That makes Denver the second-most-improved city on this list in terms of theft volume.

The small population means that the theft rate isn't quite so great, though. At 598.44 thefts per 100,000 Denverites, the city is well into the top 10 nationwide, coming in at 7th if we go by theft rate. But even that is a huge improvement over the numbers in the early 2020s. According to the NICB, the Denver CBSA had a staggering theft rate of 964.92 in 2021, giving it the dubious honor of the second-worst theft rate nationwide after Bakersfield, California. So while it's still not great, it's certainly way better.

The Riverside metro area is the first of three Californian cities on this list, an honor that the Golden State shares with no other (at least, as far as the confines of our list go). But Riverside can't hold a candle to the other two Californian cities, both of which you won't read about for quite a while. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The NICB recorded 18,548 vehicle thefts in 2024, with 8,075 recorded in Riverside County — a cool 25% drop from the 10,836 of 2023.

With a population of 4.7 million as of 2024, that makes for a not-terrible, but not-great theft rate of 395.64 stolen vehicles per 100,000 people. That makes Riverside one of the 25 most theft-prone CBSAs in the country, although its 24th place means it's still a ways away from many other major cities in California. Riverside also offers the first departure from the trend of Hyundai Elantras being the most-stolen vehicle, but what takes its place may surprise you: Despite all the state's eco-friendly connotations, not least thanks to its now-repealed EV mandate, thieves made away with more Chevrolet Silverado 1500s than any other vehicle in California, undoubtedly helping it earn the dubious accolade of the most-stolen pickup in the U.S.

It's time to go cross-country, switching from the sunny climes of the West Coast to the northeastern U.S. for a one-two punch of theft-prone CBSAs. The first is the border-crossing Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington urban area, which, according to the NICB's numbers, saw 18,873 cars stolen in 2024, with 12,166 of those reported thefts occurring in Philadelphia County. Both the Philly CBSA and county follow the nationwide trend, with similar drops of 20% and 23%, respectively, from the previous year's numbers. For the record, those numbers stood at 23,591 and 15,845 in 2023.

The Delaware Valley's population of 6.3 million makes for a middling theft rate of 302.15 stolen vehicles per 100,000, placing it at the lower end of the scale for this list. It also means that Philly is well outside of the top 50 nationwide — it's 61st, if you're wondering — which is an honor that few of the metro areas on our list have.

We'll stay in the northeast for a while and move just a tiny bit westward from Philly to cover the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria CBSA. The Washington metropolitan area isn't just geographically close to the previous entrant on our list. The numbers are also remarkably similar, with barely anything to split the two.

According to the NICB, 2024 saw 19,933 vehicle thefts in the Washington metro, just over 1,000 more than in Philly. Even the reduction in incidents from 2023 mirrors that of its neighbouring metro, with a drop from 24,312, making for an 18% decrease. It's worth noting that this is the last city to record fewer than 20,000 incidents in 2024, so that's perhaps something to be proud of if you happen to hail from this part of the U.S. Even though the two cities have a similar population, with roughly 6.4 million inhabitants each, the slight uptick in thefts makes for 316.15 stolen vehicles per 100,000 people, according to the NICB's calculations. Fun (or not so fun) fact: Washington, D.C., also has some of the worst drivers in the country, according to insurers.

From Washington, D.C., we cross the nation to Washington state and the Seattle metropolitan area. It's the first of these to break past 20,000 thefts in 2024, with 21,335 per the NICB data. But while that's not necessarily the best look, it's a huge change from 2023, during which 31,499 cars were liberated, so to speak, from their owners. Yes, you read right: Seattle car owners suffered 10,000 fewer thefts from one year to the next, making for a 32% decrease — good enough for a most improved award, were we giving any awards away for this particular list.

King County did very well, too, with a 25% decrease from 19,353 to 14,455 thefts. Unfortunately, while a 32% drop in total thefts is a great result no matter how you cut it, the theft rate is still quite problematic at 527.46 thefts for every 100,000 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Belleveue area. That puts it in eighth place nationwide and is still well ahead of the 465.11 thefts that the NICB recorded there in 2020. That's somewhat troubling, especially considering that the estimated population has increased slightly to 4.14 million in 2024, up from around 4.02 million in 2020.

There are four CBSAs with between 20,000 and 30,000 thefts in 2024, but the next three occupy the total opposite end of that spectrum from the Seattle metro. The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin CBSA is the first of the three, with its 29,202 total thefts putting it closer to the city in second place than the city immediately before it in our reverse ranking. Now, to be fair, that's still a decent 20% drop from the 36,422 in 2023, but it's still not all that great compared to all the metros that have come before it.

On the plus side, the 9.4 million Americans who call the Chicago metro area home means that it has a relatively low theft rate that bests all but one of the cities coming up. A rate of 315.26 thefts per 100,000 puts it in 53rd nationwide, which really isn't all that bad, especially once you see how the next handful of cities fare in both metrics.

We come to the first of two Texas metro areas to sport a disturbingly high number of thefts. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington nexus is the first of the two, with its 29,340 thefts in 2024 earning it a place in the top five and putting it quite close to its neighboring metro area to the south, which is coming up right after this.

The NICB's data shows 362.22 thefts per 100,000 people in Dallas. The rate remains high, but low enough to keep it well out of the top 30 nationwide, likely benefiting from the extra half million or so Texans that call the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area home compared to the other Texas CBSA on this list. And while we're loath to parrot hackneyed clichés about those from the South, it's worth noting that the most-stolen vehicles in Texas were pickups. Thieves stole 6,453 Chevolet Silverado 1500s — possibly including some examples of the highly-rated Silverado 1500 ZR2 — from their owners in 2024, with 4,073 GMC Sierra 1500s suffering the same fate.

The final CBSA on this list to record fewer than 30,000 car thefts in 2024 is the Houston-Pasadena-Woodlands metro area, which just squeaked under that threshold with 29,689 thefts — a 16% reduction from 2023's 35,414 thefts, and nearly identical to the DFW area's 15% drop. Harris County, which counts Houston as one of the cities within its jurisdiction, contributed the vast majority of those nearly 30,000 thefts.

NICB data reveals that 25,888 of the thefts in the Houston CBSA occurred in Harris County, making it the U.S. county with the second-highest number of thefts by total volume. And that's with a matching 16% drop in county-level thefts between 2023 and 2024, too. The situation isn't quite as grim if we turn to the theft rate, however, although if it's not exactly great, either. According to the NICB, the Houston CBSA recorded 395.31 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024, which isn't the worst but enough to put it in the top 25 nationwide — and near the top of our particular list, too.

The top three CBSAs with the most thefts are all coastal cities, with third place going to the Big Apple and its environs. The New York-Newark-New Jersey CBSA is the first of three to record more than 30,000 car thefts in 2024, with the area's thieves stealing 30,181 vehicles over those 12 months. Interestingly, thieves in this corner of the northeast seemed to prefer Hondas more than those in other states, with the Honda CR-V coming top in New York and the ever-present Honda Accord leading the charts in New Jersey.

As was the trend nationwide, fewer cars were stolen in New York in 2024 than in 2023, although the 11% reduction from 33,828 makes it one of the least-improved metropolitan areas on our list. But fewer thefts are fewer thefts, and we're sure car owners in New York and New Jersey will appreciate it nonetheless. It's worth noting that the N.Y. area's 30,000 thefts occurred in an area with just under 20 million inhabitants, making for a theft rate that's by far the lowest on our list at just 154.79 thefts per 100,000 inhabitants. But that's to be expected, considering how few New Yorkers own vehicles: According to The City University of New York's Hunter College Urban Policy and Planning, New Yorkers only have 0.62 vehicles per household, compared to 1.63 in LA and 1.79 nationwide.

The top two cities with the most theft are both in California, which probably shouldn't surprise you, given how California's nearly 39.5 million inhabitants (as of 2024) make it the most populous state in the U.S. Coming just behind the top entry is the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CBSA. The San Fran CBSA has the second-highest number of car thefts in 2024 by volume, with 34,876.

However, that doesn't tell the whole story. The San Francisco CBSA had just over 4.6 million inhabitants in 2024, significantly less than many other metro areas on this list. What this means, then, is that the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont conurbation has the worst theft rate in the country at 763.33 stolen cars per 100,000 inhabitants. In even worse news for those living in this section of the Bay Area, things have deteriorated over the past few years. NICB data from 2021 shows that the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley CBSA had a theft rate of 675.86. So, while the outright numbers have gone down, the theft rate hasn't gotten any better. Might want to pay attention to those tips to prevent your car from being stolen if you're around San Francisco. 

At just under 13 million residents at the end of 2024, it's probably not a shock to see the Los Angeles CBSA at the top of our list. The population may also explain why traffic is so bad in the city, but we'll leave that for another time. What you may not have expected, though, is just how far ahead the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area is of the rest of the pack.

According to the NICB's data, 66,565 thefts were recorded in this CBSA for 2024. Sure, that's an okay reduction from 2023's 73,142 thefts, but it still leaves LA with nearly double that of the next-closest metro area. It's also only a 9% drop, which is the worst of all the metro areas listed. Of these, the vast majority occurred in Los Angeles County proper, with the NICB recording 59,058 thefts — again, not that shocking given that nearly 10 million people call LA County home. The theft rate isn't great, either, with 520.08 car thefts per 100,000 people. That's enough to put it in ninth place nationwide, which is quite surprising considering how many people live there. 

Interestingly, the LA CBSA didn't even crack the top 10 for theft rate in 2021 according to the NICB, showing that there's been a definite shift in theft demographics over the past few years. All in all, our top two show that California isn't just one of the most expensive states in which to own a car, but it may also be one of the riskiest if you're worried about theft.

We based this list entirely on data provided to us by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. At the time of writing, the association has not released its full findings for 2024, with only a report highlighting the significant drop in vehicle thefts from 2023 to 2024 available for public consumption. But the NICB gathered more data than that report reveals, including thefts (both total thefts and theft rate) for CBSAs and counties, both of which we relied on extensively here. We sourced all population estimates from the United States Census Bureau's data, with CBSA specifics coming from the metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area population totals it released in March 2025.

It's worth reiterating that our list ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by total number of vehicle thefts, not the theft rate. We acknowledge that theft rates may be more representative of the risk of getting one's car stolen (it's certainly the metric that the NICB itself prefers to highlight in its press releases), but our focus is on the cities with the most thefts outright, not the ones that pose the highest risk to car owners — even if that means our selection is skewed slightly toward those metropolitan areas with a large number of inhabitants.