New Report–WA State 8th Worst in U.S. For Stolen Vehicles

According to the most respected and watched source for tracking auto theft rates, Washington and Oregon are among the worst.

THE MOST RECENT DATA IS NOT GOOD FOR US OR OREGON

 The National Insurance Crime Bureau has been tracking auto theft rates for decades, and their most recent study shows we're not doing well.

The bureau uses a variety of statistics to compile the data, it's basically measured as a total number of auto thefts per every 100K of population.

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Not surprisingly, auto thefts skyrocketed during the pandemic in 2020, and it appears the state with the biggest increases and/or worst rates were the ones who suffered the most economically.

   WHERE DID WEST COAST LAND?

Washington D.C. was the #1 location for stolen vehicles in 2020, with an average of 562 thefts per 100K population. Surprisingly, Colorado jumped to #2.  California was #3 with an average rate of 475 per every 100,000.

  Oregon landed at #6 with 385 per every 100K, while Washington was #8 with 368 vehicles stolen for every 100K persons. 

However, a look at stolen vehicle rates over the last five years leading up to COVID show Oregon held steady in the top ten as did WA.

Ten states saw their rates drop in 2020, they were also states where the economies opened up the fastest and had the fewest lockdowns and job losses due to the pandemic. Some recent 2019 data put Yakima in the top ten nationally per capita for stolen vehicles, but it dropped during the pandemic. However, it's on the rise again.