Car thefts plummet in WA: State leads U.S. with 32% decrease
Mar 24, 2025, 4:00 PM | Updated: 4:25 pm
A "protect your car" sign placed in a parking lot. (Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg, Getty Images)
(Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg, Getty Images)
Car thefts dropped by 32% from 2023 to 2024 in Washington, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the most of any state in the nation.
Washington is leading the way in car theft reduction (Oregon ranked third with a 30% drop), but the U.S. as a whole is seeing fewer car thefts.
“After four years of surging vehicle thefts, the number of stolen vehicles in the U.S. fell to pre-pandemic levels in 2024,” the National Insurance Crime Board stated. “Thefts nationwide decreased 17% from 2023 to 2024, dropping below the one million mark for the first time since 2021 and marking the largest annual decrease in stolen vehicles in the last 40 years.”
Nevada had the second-largest car theft drop year-over-year (-31%), with Nebraska (-29%) and Colorado (-26%) rounding out the top five. Maine was the only state with an increase in vehicle thefts in 2024, increasing 2% over the previous year.
“The overall decrease in stolen vehicles nationwide is a testament to the hard work and collaboration between law enforcement, multi-jurisdictional auto theft task forces, governing bodies, vehicle manufacturers, and NICB,” David Glawe, President and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, stated. “Collectively, these groups used data and intelligence to develop actionable strategies to help local authorities investigate and prosecute offenders and to prevent vehicle theft from occurring in the first place.”
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Where car thefts still occur the most
The District of Columbia remains the most rampant area for car thefts. Despite an 18% decrease in total vehicle thefts, D.C. still experiences more than three times the amount of car thefts compared to the national average. California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada are the other states in the top five for most car thefts.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Honda Accord, and Kia Optima were the five most common cars stolen in 2024.
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