NICB: U.S. Vehicle Thefts in Decreased by 17% in 2024

Vehicle thefts in the U.S. fell by 17% in 2024 from a year earlier, the largest annual decrease in vehicles stolen in the last 40 years, a new report shows.

In 2024, 850,708 vehicles were stolen nationwide, down from a peak of 1,020,729 thefts in 2023. The drop in thefts reported by the National Insurance Crime Bureau was the first time since 2021the total number of stolen vehicles fell below 1 million.

NICB data show the trend in U.S. vehicle thefts in the past five years:

• 2020 – 880,595
• 2021- 932,329
• 2022- 1,008,756
• 2023- 1,020,729
• 2024- 850,708

Washington saw the largest year-over-year decrease in vehicle thefts in 2024 at 32%, followed by Nevada (31%), Oregon (30%), Nebraska (29%) and Colorado (26%). Maine experienced the nation’s only increase in vehicle thefts last year, rising 2% over the year prior, according to the NICB.

The Hyundai Elantra was the model most stolen in 2024 (31,712). The others on the top five list were: Hyundai Sonata (26,720), Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (21,666), Honda Accord (18,539) and Kia Optima (17,493).

David J. Glawe, president and CEO of the NICB, credited the drop to collaborations between law enforcement, auto theft task forces, governing bodies, vehicle manufacturers and his own organization.

“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,” Glawe said in a statement.