The National Insurance Crime Bureau counted 268,415 vehicle thefts across the United States from January through June 2026, a 21% decrease from the same six months of 2025. The national rate worked out to 77.81 thefts per 100,000 people. All 50 states recorded decreases, and so did the District of Columbia, which posted the steepest drop of any jurisdiction. Not one place in the country moved the wrong way on a statewide basis.
California still leads on volume, D.C. leads on decline
Size explains much of California’s place atop the state totals, since it is the most populous state.
The largest percentage fall belonged to the District of Columbia, which went from 2,641 thefts in the first half of 2025 to 1,262 in the same stretch of 2026, a 52% decrease. D.C. is a jurisdiction rather than a state, so the claim that every state dropped rests on the 50 states plus that one extra decline. Even after the improvement, the capital’s rate of 181.94 per 100,000 residents remained the highest among the states and jurisdictions the bureau analyzed. Tennessee came next among the biggest decliners, falling 42% from 7,754 thefts to 4,528. Vermont dropped 37%, from 385 to 244, while New Hampshire and Colorado each fell 35%. New Hampshire went from 295 to 193, and Colorado from 9,052 to 5,902. In its first-half 2026 theft report, released September 30 from the bureau’s Oak Brook, Illinois, headquarters, the bureau said California had the highest total of any state, at 57,821 thefts.
Delaware fell 32%, from 858 to 581. Florida and New Mexico each declined 31%, with Florida moving from 14,873 thefts to 10,211 and New Mexico from 3,644 to 2,516. Nevada, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri each fell 30%, rounding out the twelve largest percentage declines. Raw counts and rates tell different stories. California’s 57,821 thefts reflect its population, while D.C.’s rate reflects a small, dense jurisdiction where a few thousand thefts translate into a very high per-resident figure. Comparing the two on totals alone would mislead, which is why the bureau reports both the count and the rate per 100,000 people.
Tim Slater and the insurers’ reading of the numbers
Tim Slater, the bureau’s chief operating officer, said vehicle thefts continue to decrease nationwide and called it encouraging that every state saw a decline. He added that with more than a quarter-million vehicles stolen in six months, continued investment in partnerships, prevention and public awareness is “paramount to sustaining positive progress.” That caution matters because a 21% drop still leaves a very large number of stolen cars, trucks and motorcycles. At 268,415 thefts in half a year, the loss is far from trivial for owners, lenders and the companies that underwrite auto policies, even as the trend line points down.
Chicago stands apart among the largest metros
Metropolitan results were less uniform than the state picture. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim recorded the most thefts of any metro area, 21,540, which was 23% fewer than a year earlier. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ranked second at 11,761 and was the only one of the ten largest metros to post an increase, up 2%. New York-Newark-Jersey City followed with 11,306 thefts, down 16%, and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands logged 10,008, down 18%. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont reported 9,825, a 14% decrease, and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington recorded 8,212, a 30% decline, the sharpest among the big ten outside Washington.
The remaining entries were Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington at 8,056 thefts (down 11%), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at 5,937 (down 20%), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria at 5,717 (down 31%) and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue at 4,834 (down 27%). Bakersfield-Delano, California, had the highest metro theft rate at 223.28 per 100,000, nearly triple the national figure.
Fraud and organized crime move in other directions
The bureau cautioned that other vehicle-related crimes and fraud schemes are rising even as organized groups shift away from traditional theft. A falling theft count, in other words, does not mean the underlying criminal networks have gone away; some appear to be changing methods. The release repeats standard prevention steps: park in well-lit areas, keep windows rolled up, lock doors, never leave an engine running unattended and take the keys. Owners can also consider steering wheel locks, audible alarms, kill switches or aftermarket GPS trackers. Buyers of used vehicles can run a free lookup through the bureau’s VINCheck tool to see whether a car has been reported stolen or declared a total loss.
For insurers, a decline that reaches every state at once matters because auto claims are priced on regional loss experience. Broad improvement means fewer large theft payouts to spread across policyholders, though the bureau’s warning about fraud suggests the savings may not be uniform across lines of coverage. The release does not give a breakdown of the most-stolen makes and models, nor a comparison with full-year 2025 totals or the earlier peak in thefts, so those questions remain open. Readers wanting more can browse the bureau’s news release archive or its main site.
Suspected theft or insurance fraud can be reported through the bureau’s online report form, and journalists or researchers can reach the press office through its contact page.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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