States With The Highest Vehicle Theft Rate
American thieves stole 659,880 vehicles in 2025, a 23 percent drop from 2024 and a 35 percent drop from the pandemic-era peak of 1,020,729 in 2023. The national theft rate now sits at 97.33 per 100,000 residents in the first half of 2025, down from 250.2 across all of 2024. Behind the headline decline, four states still post theft rates well above the national average: California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado. The story of how thefts surged and then collapsed runs through a 2022 TikTok hotwire trend, a coordinated automaker software response, and multi-agency arrest operations across the western states. The data below is current as of the most recent National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) release.
The National Picture
US vehicle thefts moved through three distinct phases over the past six years. The 2019 baseline of 794,019 thefts climbed steadily through the pandemic, jumping 28 percent to a 2023 peak of 1,020,729 driven by economic disruption and the spread of a social media theft technique that targeted older Kia and Hyundai sedans. The 2024 total fell to 850,708 (a 17 percent annual decline, the largest in 40 years). The 2025 total dropped again to 659,880, the lowest figure in decades.
Maine was the only state to register an annual increase in 2024. Alaska was the only state to do the same in the first half of 2025, with thefts up 26 percent in the Anchorage metropolitan area. Every other state and the District of Columbia reported declines, with Washington, Colorado, and Puerto Rico leading the country with year-over-year drops above 30 percent.
The Kia Boyz Effect
A 2022 TikTok trend tagged "Kia Boyz" demonstrated how thieves could bypass the ignition on certain 2010 through 2021 Kia and Hyundai models using nothing more than a USB cord. The targeted vehicles lacked engine immobilizers, equipment that had been standard on competing brands for two decades. The trend pushed Kia and Hyundai theft volumes to historic highs nationwide. Hyundai and Kia together accounted for 21 percent of all US vehicle thefts in 2023, dropping to 16 percent in 2024 and 14 percent in 2025 as software updates and aftermarket immobilizer kits rolled out.
The Hyundai Elantra topped the national most-stolen list in both 2024 (31,712 stolen) and the first half of 2025 (11,329). The Hyundai Sonata came in second nationally at 26,720 in 2024. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Honda Accord, and Kia Optima rounded out the top five.
California: The New National Leader
California ranks first among states with a theft rate of 178.01 per 100,000 residents in the first half of 2025, despite a 26 percent year-over-year decline. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area led the country in raw volume with 72,460 thefts in 2023, and the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area registered the highest metro theft rate in 2025 at 477.51 per 100,000. California's combination of population density, port access for vehicle export, and major freeway corridors creates the geography NICB analysts cite for the sustained rankings. The state's total 2023 figure (208,668 stolen vehicles) accounted for roughly one in five American vehicle thefts.
Nevada
Nevada ranks second at 167.68 per 100,000 residents in the first half of 2025. The state's theft activity concentrates in the Las Vegas Valley and Reno-Sparks corridor, where casino tourism, transient populations, and quick highway access to the California border push numbers above the national average. Nevada recorded a 31 percent year-over-year decline in 2024 and continued dropping into 2025. NICB analysts have tied the state's elevated rate to vehicle-export operations through the Las Vegas and Reno metros.
New Mexico
New Mexico sits at third with 167.54 per 100,000 in the first half of 2025, despite a 26 percent year-over-year decrease. Albuquerque drives the state's numbers, with the metro area consistently ranking among the highest theft rates per capita in the country across the past five years. The state's I-25 and I-40 interchange in Albuquerque opens fast routes to El Paso, Phoenix, and the Mexican border, which NICB has flagged as factors in the persistent ranking.
Colorado, Missouri, and the Middle of the List
Colorado ranked first among states for four consecutive years before dropping to fourth in 2025 with a rate of 149.04 per 100,000 (a 31 percent year-over-year decline, the second-largest in the country). Denver metro arrests of organized Kia/Hyundai theft crews drove most of the improvement. Missouri follows at 142.17, with St. Louis and Kansas City accounting for most of the state's volume. Maryland at 136.48 and Texas at 123.83 round out the next two ranks, with the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metros driving Texas numbers.
Washington: A Case Study in Decline
Washington ranked second among states in 2023 with a theft rate of 639.3 per 100,000 residents (the highest the state had seen in nearly two decades, and behind only Colorado). It led the nation with the largest year-over-year decline in 2024 (down 32 percent) and again through the first half of 2025 (down 42 percent), then closed the full year 2025 down 39 percent. The state now sits ninth among states at 115.20 per 100,000 in the first half of 2025. The decline tracks to coordinated arrests by the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force, which dismantled multiple organized Kia/Hyundai theft crews operating across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties through 2023 and 2024.
Washington's 2007 Elizabeth Nowak-Washington Auto Theft Prevention Act (codified in the findings to RCW 9A.56.065) gave the state one of the more comprehensive vehicle-theft legal frameworks in the country. Theft of a Motor Vehicle (RCW 9A.56.065) and Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (RCW 9A.56.068) both carry Class B felony charges with maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, regardless of vehicle value.
States with the Highest Vehicle Theft Rates
The table below shows the top 9 states by theft rate per 100,000 residents during the first half of 2025, per the most recent NICB data release. The District of Columbia, a federal district rather than a state, is excluded from the ranking, though it reported the highest theft rate in the country at 373.09 per 100,000 residents (nearly four times the national average).
| Rank | State | Thefts per 100,000 (H1 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 178.01 |
| 2 | Nevada | 167.68 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 167.54 |
| 4 | Colorado | 149.04 |
| 5 | Missouri | 142.17 |
| 6 | Maryland | 136.48 |
| 7 | Texas | 123.83 |
| 8 | Alaska | 117.41 |
| 9 | Washington | 115.20 |
The national average for the first half of 2025 was 97.33 thefts per 100,000 residents. Every state on the list except Alaska posted a year-over-year decline. Alaska's 26 percent increase ran against the national trend and concentrated in the Anchorage metro.
Prevention That Actually Works
NICB recommends a four-step baseline: remove keys, lock doors, roll up windows, and park in well-lit areas. Roughly one in five stolen cars over the past two decades have been taken with the keys left inside. For owners of 2010 through 2021 Kia and Hyundai models with the bypass vulnerability, the automakers have released free software updates that block the USB hotwire technique, and dealerships will install steering-wheel locks at no cost. Aftermarket physical immobilizer kits and steering-wheel locks remain effective deterrents on older vehicles.
Onboard telematics systems with theft tracking (factory-installed on most new vehicles since 2020) have driven recovery rates above 85 percent for reported stolen vehicles. Roughly 34 percent of reported thefts are recovered the same day and 45 percent within two days. Reporting a theft within the first hour is the single best predictor of recovery.
The National Read
The American vehicle-theft picture in 2025 looks very different than it did three years ago. California now leads the states in both raw volume and rate, with the District of Columbia holding the highest jurisdiction-level rate overall. Nevada and New Mexico both sit at roughly 167 thefts per 100,000 residents. Colorado dropped sharply but still ranks fourth. Washington's drop down seven positions in the state ranking over two years gave the country its proof that coordinated arrests and automaker software patches can move the numbers fast. The Hyundai Elantra has displaced the Honda Accord as the most-stolen vehicle in America, and the next round of immobilizer compliance will likely shift the list again. For drivers in any of the higher-rate states, the basics still apply: pull the key, lock the door, and check whether your vehicle is on the Kia and Hyundai bypass list for a free software update.
