Washington Ranks Third Highest For Auto Thefts, Study Says

It seems Washington State might not be the best place to own a car...that is, unless you're looking to have it stolen.

According to a new study released by pre-settlement legal funding company High Rise Financial, the Evergreen State ranks third highest among the fifty U.S. states for car theft.

The sobering news is based on statistics from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer regarding the number of motor vehicles stolen per 100,000 citizens in each state on a monthly basis from 2019-2023.

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The study revealed that Washington averaged 41.48 motor vehicle thefts on a monthly basis, placing it behind only New Mexico (42.05/mo.) and Colorado (51.43/mo.) for most in the nation.

Within the five year timeframe analyzed by the study, 2023 ranked as the largest for car thefts in Washington with a monthly average of 57.3 per 100,000 residents, followed by 2022 and 2021.

Other states to make the top ten were Nevada (38.72); Oregon (36.95); Missouri (35.85); California (35.19); Hawai'i (33.57); Tennessee; 28.57); and Oklahoma (28.15).

Conversely, the states with the fewest car thefts each month per 100,000 residents were Maine (5.58), New Hampshire (5.61), and Vermont (5.95), followed by Idaho (7.58); Massachusetts (8.39); New York (9.07); West Virginia (9.75); New Jersey (11.76); Virginia (11.95); and Rhode Island (12.04).

Oddly enough, while the Pacific Northwest includes two of the top five states for auto theft rates, the New England states appear to be far less appealing to vehicle thieves, with six of its seven states comprising the ten with the lowest auto theft rates, as well as four of the five states with the least amount of stolen cars on a monthly basis.