American car owners saw meaningful relief in 2025 as vehicle theft fell to its lowest point in decades, capping back-to-back years of historic reductions that have reversed a pandemic-era crime wave.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported 659,880 stolen vehicles nationwide last year — a 23% drop from 2024 levels. That follows a 17% decrease the year prior, which had itself ranked as the steepest single-year decline in four decades. Together, the two consecutive drops signal a sustained reversal rather than a one-year anomaly.
Credit for the turnaround goes to coordinated efforts across multiple sectors. “Coordinated prevention efforts by law enforcement, auto manufacturers, insurance companies, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau are having a major impact on vehicle thefts nationwide,” said NICB President and CEO David J. Glawe. “But with several hundreds of thousands of vehicles stolen in a single year, vigilance and prevention efforts remain key to protecting families, businesses and communities nationwide.”
The numbers, while encouraging, carry a sobering caveat. Despite the progress, a vehicle is still stolen somewhere in the United States every 48 seconds. Urban areas face disproportionately higher risk, and the sheer volume of stolen cars — nearly 660,000 in a single year — means the problem is far from solved.
The NICB, a not-for-profit organization backed by more than 1,200 property-casualty insurers, coordinates intelligence and prevention efforts across law enforcement, industry, and government to combat insurance crime and vehicle theft.
Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)
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