Auto theft in the United States is dominated by a handful of familiar nameplates, and the rankings keep shifting from year to year. Data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows which models thieves favored across 2022, 2023 and 2024. The twelve vehicles below are ranked by the counts the bureau published for each of those years.
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1. Hyundai Elantra: Theft Leader
The Elantra topped the national list in 2024, and the NICB count reached 31,712 thefts, down from 48,445 the year before, a substantial decline for the single most-stolen vehicle in the country.
That total covers the whole model line across every model year, so it measures volume rather than risk to any one owner. Even after the steep drop, no other vehicle came close to the top spot that year. Insurers and police tracking these figures treat the swing as a sign that thieves shift targets quickly once a weakness becomes widely known.
2. Hyundai Sonata: Close Behind
Second place went to the Sonata, with 26,720 reported thefts in 2024, compared with 42,813 in 2023, which marks a large one-year decrease for the midsize sedan.
Both Hyundai sedans fell sharply from the prior year, yet they still held the first two positions on the ranking. As with the Elantra, the count spans every model year of the line, not a single generation. Rankings such as this one are published each year, which lets readers compare how fast a model’s numbers can change from one report to the next.
3. Chevrolet Silverado 1500: Pickup on the Podium
Third on the 2024 list was the full-size pickup, which drew 21,666 thefts over the calendar year and became the highest-ranked truck on the NICB table.
It was the first non-Hyundai entry on the ranking, interrupting a run of sedans near the top. The count reflects every Silverado 1500 model year combined rather than a per-truck rate, so popularity plays a part. Trucks are valuable for parts and resale, and a popular model supplies a large pool of vehicles for thieves to choose from across the country.
4. Honda Accord: Steady Target
Fourth place belonged to the midsize sedan, with 18,539 thefts in 2024, down from 20,895 in 2023, a smaller decline than the ones recorded by the two Hyundai models above it.
Because the tally spans all model years, older cars weigh heavily in the total. The Accord illustrates a model that stays on theft lists steadily instead of spiking and then collapsing. Readers comparing it with the Hyundai figures will notice how much more gradual the movement was from one year to the following one.
5. Kia Soul: Boxy Favorite
In the 2023 ranking, the Soul placed fifth, and the NICB report listed 21,001 thefts for that year, making the boxy hatchback one of the leading targets among Kia models.
The figure is a yearly total for the model line, so it says little about how likely any single owner was to be hit. It does show how heavily Korean-brand vehicles featured in that year’s ranking. Comparing the report year by year is the only reliable way to see whether a model is climbing or falling in the national rankings.
6. Kia Forte: Compact Casualty
The Forte ranked eighth for 2023, with 16,209 recorded thefts across the country, placing the compact sedan well inside the top ten for that year.
Its appearance beside the Soul shows how often Kia models turned up on the list, which carried a news-release title highlighting imports. The number is a total for the line, not an indicator of per-vehicle odds. The compact class often appears on these lists because the cars are common, inexpensive to buy, and easy to resell or strip for parts.
7. Kia Sportage: Crossover Entry
Rounding out the 2023 top ten, the Sportage took tenth place with 15,749 thefts counted by the NICB, only just inside the cutoff for the published list.
That made it the lone crossover among the Kia entries here, and a reminder that the problem was not limited to sedans. Like the others, the count covers every model year of the Sportage line. Placing last among the published entries still meant thousands of vehicles were taken, which shows how large the national theft totals run.
8. Ford F-150: Truck Perennial
The NICB listed the F150 series pickup at 15,852 thefts for 2023, which placed the best-known Ford truck among the year’s most-stolen vehicles nationwide.
Full-size trucks have a long record on theft lists, and this entry is a total for the whole line, not for one generation. Its place in the ranking owes something to how many such pickups are on the road. Because the NICB groups the series together, individual trims and body styles are not separated in the published count at all.
9. Honda Civic: Old Favorite
For 2022, the compact racked up 27,113 thefts nationwide, and the 2000 model year was the one stolen most often, according to the bureau’s tally for that year.
A car more than two decades old leading its own model line suggests that older, simpler ignition systems remain an attraction for thieves. The total covers every Civic model year, not only that one. Owners of older cars may find the pattern worth noting, since the oldest vehicles in a line can be the simplest to steal and sell for parts.
10. Toyota Camry: Family Sedan
Toyota’s midsize sedan logged 17,094 thefts in 2022, with the 2021 model year stolen most often, a very different profile from the oldest cars on this list.
In contrast to the Civic, the most-targeted Camry was nearly new. Theft appeal evidently spans both aging and recent cars, and the total here covers the full range of Camry model years. The result suggests no single age of vehicle is safe, and that thieves pursue whichever cars are plentiful, valuable, and easy to move.
11. GMC Sierra: Truck Twin
The Sierra pickup recorded 16,622 thefts in 2022, and the 2005 model year topped its own tally, giving the full-size truck a place among the year’s heavily targeted vehicles.
Sharing a platform and a theft ranking with its Chevrolet sibling, it underlines the appeal of full-size trucks to thieves. The count combines all Sierra model years, so older and newer trucks are lumped together. Pickup trucks carry high resale and parts value, which helps explain why the large models from both General Motors brands keep returning to these tables.
12. Honda CR-V: Compact SUV Mainstay
Last on the roster, the CR-V had 13,832 thefts in 2022, and the 2001 model year was stolen most often, according to the same NICB report that ranked the Civic and Camry.
Another early-2000s Honda at the top of its own list reinforces how much older models feature in these figures. As with every entry here, the number is a line-wide total rather than a theft rate. Together with the other 2022 entries, it completes a picture of a national problem spread across many brands, body styles, and model years.
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