Today we talk about a list nobody wants to be on, the top ten cities for car theft. Stolen cars can happen anywhere, and at any time but fortantley for everyone, the FBI also reports that vehicle theft overall fell in 2011 compared to 2012. Still that's not much of a consulation for these next ten cities listed by the National Insurance Crime Bureau as being the worst of the worst.
Fresno, CA
Modesto, CA
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
Spokane, WA
Yakima, WA
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Stockton, CA
Anderson, SC
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
Visalia-Porterville, CA
The Winner - California
Technically Fresno, California is the worst city once again for thefts per capita but with three of the top three all in California, and with seven of the top ten being in the Golden State you may no longer wonder why car insurance there seems so expensive. Better lock your doors and stop leaving that window rolled down or you'll quickly find yourself looking at used cars in Southern California pretty quick.
The Runner Up - California
Alright now this maybe piling on, and Washington you could easily get the nod here with both Spokane holding the number four spot for another year and Yakima, Washington rocketing up the chart but really since Washington doesn't even have a city in the top three it still feels like a stretch.
About the Vehicle Theft Numbers
So why these places? Why are they hitting the used car search to look for replacement cars and not places like New York or Chicago, or Texas? The easy answer first is border proximity, but the second part is in how the ratings are calculated. As in that per capita part. You need a high person to car ratio to even have a chance at a high car theft to person ratio so if you have a major city like New York which pushes mass transit over cars well there are going to be a lot less cars to steal for the amount of people. This tends to favor small and mid sized metro areas who are big enough to have lots and lots of cars, but not so big that mass transit takes over. Add a border nearby to give extra incentives for theives to steal cars? It adds up quick.
Now why not Texas, with its multiple metro areas and nearnes to a border? Well Texas once was a leader in car thefts but has cracked down in recent years, especially Laredo. The result is a state that used to lead in vehicle thefts now not having a city in the top 30 in the nation.
As reminder, we'll be back next week with our list of most popular incentives searched for June as well.