Criminal Justice Information Services Division
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August 12, 2024

FBI Releases Motor Vehicle Theft, 2019—2023

On August 12, 2024, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program released Motor Vehicle Theft, 2019-2023, on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer at cde.ucr.cjis.gov. This special report provides information concerning motor vehicle theft and trends on carjacking.

Incidents of motor vehicle theft included in this report are from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Participation in NIBRS is voluntary for non-federal law enforcement agencies but mandatory for federal law enforcement agencies. As of 2023, 14,039 agencies submitted their crime data to NIBRS, covering a population of 278,449,430 people.

From 2019 to 2023, as more agencies began participating in NIBRS, the population covered by NIBRS reporting agencies increased by 79.7 percent. In this analysis, the total number of incidents are reported alongside rates per 100,000 people to allow for comparison between years.

Both the total number of reported incidents per year and the rate of incidents per 100,000 people steadily increased from 2019 to 2023.

From 2019 to 2023, the nationwide rate of motor vehicle theft incidents rose from 199.4 incidents per 100,000 people to 283.5 incidents. From 2022 to 2023, incident rates declined in the Midwest by 4.8 and the West by 7.3. The rate of offenses committed by juveniles increased in 2022 and 2023, while the rate of offenses committed by adults decreased during that time. In addition, between 2022 and 2023, the rate of reported carjacking incidents declined from 7.5 to 6.6 per 100,000 people.

The top three types of motor vehicles stolen from 2019 to 2023 were automobiles at 78.1 percent, trucks at 12.2 percent, and other motor vehicles at 8.0 percent.

Reporting data on motor vehicle thefts and carjackings allows the public to gain insight and may aid law enforcement agencies in creating strategies to reduce and prevent similar offenses in the future.