Stolen Cars: Which Cities Are the Worst?

April 25, 2009— -- Modesto, Calif., has seen better days. Earlier this month, Forbes rated it the worst metro area in the country in our Most Livable Cities list; it ranked fifth in this year's round-up of our nation's Most Miserable Cities.

Now the Central Valley town has another claim to infamy: It's where you're most likely to have your car stolen, according to a new report, called Hot Spots, from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

Click here to learn more about America's car-theft hotspots at our partner site, Forbes.com.

"California traditionally has the most thefts in the country every year, by far," says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for NICB. "There are just more of everything here. There're more cars here, there're more people here, there're more bad guys here, more bad gals here--and the cars last longer, [because] the weather here is not as severe as other places, so those are all factors that add to that bad result."

This is the second consecutive year--and fifth time in six years--Modesto has topped the car-theft hot-spot list. The Modesto metropolitan statistical area reported 4,235 cars stolen in 2008, a rate of 829 thefts per 100,000 people.

The nationwide rate is a substantially lower 363.3 thefts per 100,000 people, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

The hot-spot list uses data from NICB, a Des Plaines, Ill.-based nonprofit organization devoted to preventing vehicle theft and insurance fraud. The NICB uses U.S. Census Bureau population estimates and ZIP code data matched with theft records for metropolitan statistical areas. The end result is calculated on a scale of thefts per 100,000 people.

The state of California ranked No. 1 in total thefts, but areas in Texas, Nevada and New Mexico also featured prominently in the report. And while the list marked the fifth year in a row that U.S. auto theft has declined, it highlighted significant increases in Texas and New Mexico.

El Paso, Laredo and San Antonio, along with Las Cruces, each saw an increase over their totals from last year's report. Laredo ranked second on the list of 361 metropolitan areas; it averaged more than 827.21 thefts per 100,000 people in 2008.