The number of stolen vehicles has dropped to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest report.

Nationwide, thefts decreased 17 percent from 2023 to 2024, dropping below the one million mark for the first time since 2021 and marking the largest annual decrease in stolen vehicles in the last 40 years.

“The overall decrease in stolen vehicles nationwide is a testament to the hard work and collaboration between law enforcement, multi-jurisdictional auto theft task forces, governing bodies, vehicle manufacturers, and NICB,” said David J. Glawe, president and CEO. “Collectively, these groups used data and intelligence to develop actionable strategies to help local authorities investigate and prosecute offenders and to prevent vehicle theft from occurring in the first place.”

Last year, 850,708 vehicles were stolen nationwide, marking a significant decline from the recent historic peak of 1,020,729 thefts in 2023.

The top five states showing the biggest decreases in vehicle thefts were: Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Nebraska and Colorado.

Maine was the only state to show a rise in auto theft, with a 2 percent year over year increase.

Despite experiencing an 18 percent decrease in total vehicle thefts, the state with the highest theft rate was the District of Columbia with 842.4 thefts per 100,000 residents. That’s more than three times the national average of 250.2 thefts per 100,000 residents.

California, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada rounded out the top five states experiencing the most auto thefts last year.

Vehicles that made the top five most stolen list include the Hyundai Elantra and Sonata, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup truck, Honda Accord and Kia Optima.

Hyundai and Kia continue to roll out anti-theft software updates to reduce the rash of thefts targeting the specific manufacturers’ vehicles.