Holiday Vehicle Thefts Increase in 2018

Thieves stole nearly 110 more vehicles on holidays around the U.S. in 2018 compared with 2017. Specifically, the nation experienced a total of 22,879 vehicle thefts on 11 holidays in 2018 as compared with 22,770 on the same holidays in 2017, according to National Insurance Crime Bureau data.

In 2018, the top two holidays for auto thefts were the same as in 2017, with New Year's Day and Presidents' Day seeing 2,571 and 2,380 vehicles stolen, respectively.

Other holidays that ranked among the top five for vehicle theft in 2018 include Halloween with 2,275 appropriated vehicles, Labor Day with 2,235, and Memorial Day with 2,167.

Thieves may have a soft spot for Christmas and Thanksgiving, which ranked as the two holidays with the least number of stolen vehicles for two consecutive years.

In 2018, there were 1,447 vehicle thefts on Christmas and 1,698 on Thanksgiving.

The NICB’s new report also explores which states experienced the most holiday auto thefts. Noteworthy, the top five states in 2018 are precisely the same states — in the same ranking order — as in 2017.

In 2018, California took the top spot for most holiday vehicle thefts with 4,797 — down significantly from the Golden State’s total of 5,142 thefts in 2017.

Texas ranked second with 2,144 stolen cars in 2018, followed by Florida with 1,322, Washington with 819, and Georgia  with 778.