WA had second-highest vehicle theft rate in U.S. for 2022. What cars were stolen the most?

Jared Gendron
Updated ·2 min read
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Car thefts in Washington state have been happening at a faster pace than most other states nationwide. Now the Evergreen State is also inching closer to being the state with the most vehicle thefts in America. The News Tribune previously reported that in 2022 Washington saw the third-highest number of vehicle thefts in the U.S., at 46,939, according to a report on thefts from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Every month, thousands of vehicles are snagged off the streets of Pierce and King counties, the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force reports.

But now, a new analysis shows that Washington has the second-highest rate of thefts per 1,000 vehicles. Vehicle history check platform carVertical reviewed the data from the NICB and found that for every 1,000 registered vehicles in Washington state, 15 were stolen in 2022. This equates to around one in every 67 registered vehicles stolen.

In addition to the NICB, carVertical collected data from government registries, insurance companies and other databases to uncover the total number of registered vehicles per state.

The Evergreen State is tied for second with Missouri, both of which are eclipsed by Colorado’s 28 vehicles stolen per 1,000 automobiles. California, which had around 202,685 vehicles stolen, had a slightly lower theft rate of 14 per 1,000 vehicles.

On top of the theft rates, carVertical also found that the nation’s top five most-stolen vehicles are:

  • Chevrolet Pick-Up – 48,206 stolen

  • Ford Pick-Up – 47,999 stolen

  • Honda Civic – 31,673 stolen

  • Honda Accord – 30,274 stolen

  • Toyota Camry – 17,270 stolen

In April, Pierce County saw a slight increase in car thefts, at 771 compared to March’s 748, per the Puget Sound ATTF’s report. Law enforcement representatives previously told The News Tribune that trends on social media encouraging people to steal cars have directly impacted Washington’s surge in stolen cars.

Vehicles that are the most susceptible to thefts include models from Hyundai and Kia. Over the past few months, the Puget Sound ATTF has partnered with local law enforcement agencies to give owners of at-risk vehicles free anti-theft devices. Hyundai is also offering free software upgrades to some of its vehicles that install better anti-theft protective measures.