REPORT: How many cars were stolen in Texas last year?
TEXAS (KXAN) — There was a record number of vehicle thefts reported in the United States last year, and Texas nearly topped that list.
Texas had the second-highest number of stolen vehicles reported last year among all U.S. states, according to MarketWatch Guides' September analysis of National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) data. More than 115,000 vehicle thefts happened in Texas in 2023, second only to California, which reported more than 208,000 stolen vehicles.
NICB broke down the Top 10 states for stolen vehicles:
- California: 208,668 stolen vehicles
- Texas: 115,013 stolen vehicles
- Florida: 46,213 stolen vehicles
- Washington: 43,160 stolen vehicles
- Illinois: 41,528 stolen vehicles
- Colorado: 34,068 stolen vehicles
- New York: 32,715 stolen vehicles
- Ohio: 31,647 stolen vehicles
- Georgia: 28,171 stolen vehicles
- Missouri: 27,279 stolen vehicles
NICB's dataset also analyzed specific hot spot areas in 2023, which are more densely populated regions. Reviewing that data, the Lone Star State ranked No. 10:
- Washington, D.C.: 1,149.71 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Colorado: 583.25 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Nevada: 572.70 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Washington: 554.44 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- California: 534.49 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- New Mexico: 489.67 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Missouri: 441.61 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Maryland: 427.99 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Oregon: 394.14 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
- Texas: 383 vehicle thefts per 100,000 people
Alongside being a state with one of the largest volumes of reported auto thefts, two Texas cities also landed in the Top 10 for the highest number of stolen vehicles last year. NICB data reviewed data from major urban areas and surrounding communities:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California: 72,460 thefts; down 0.5% year over year
- San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, California: 40,977 thefts; up 28% year over year
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois/Indiana/Wisconsin: 36,272 thefts; up 9% year over year
- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas: 35,119 thefts, up 7% year over year
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas: 34,135 thefts; up 13% year over year
- New York-Newark-New Jersey, New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania: 33,596 thefts; up 6% year over year
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington: 31,328 thefts; up 2% year over year
- Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado: 24,489 thefts; down 22% year over year
- Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia/Maryland/West Virginia: 24,119 thefts, up 52% year over year
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Delaware/Maryland: 23,339 thefts, up 19% year over year
The full report is available online.