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Phoenix Metro Area Sees Increase in Car Thefts From a Year Ago

Car thefts in the Phoenix metro area are up by about 10 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, according to a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. They estimate that the nationwide rate of car thefts has increased by 6.6 percent over the same time period. According to the NICB’s Hot Spots Vehicle Theft Report, the number of thefts in the Phoenix area increased from 12,096 in 2015 to 13,435 in 2016. 

This brings the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area to a rank of No. 52 in the nation for 2016, compared to No. 80 in 2015, according to the NICB report. The report ranked 382 of the nation’s largest metro areas. The NICB’s ranking is based on the Phoenix area’s rate of 397 car thefts per 100,000 residents in 2016. The city with the highest theft rate is Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a total of 10,011 thefts, or 1,114 per 100,000 residents.

The average theft rate among the 382 metro areas was 225 per 100,000 residents. “Notwithstanding these occasional increases, vehicle thefts are down dramatically around the nation over the last several years,” the report says. “The historic peak year for vehicle theft was 1991, with 1,661,738 reported thefts. In 2015, the total was 707,758. That is a 57.4 percent reduction since 1991.” In Arizona, the historic peak theft year was in 2002, with a total of 57,668 vehicles stolen across the state.


“Arizona has experienced a significant decline ending 2013 with 17,438 thefts. That’s a reduction of 70 percent since 2002,” reports the NICB.

After Phoenix, Tuscon was the report’s next highest Arizona metro area for auto thefts, ranking 89, followed by Lake Havasu City-Kingman at number 116. Prescott, AZ had the lowest theft rank among the report’s Arizona metro areas, with a nationwide ranking of 310 and a total of 197 thefts, or 93 per 100,000 residents.