The Worst cities for Auto Theft
Which Cities are the Most Vulnerable for Auto Theft?
High rates of auto theft can have an impact on your auto insurance premium. As of 2004, Modesto, California was considered the auto theft capital of the United States.
Find out how safe your city is and what other factors will affect your auto insurance premiums.
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If you live in State College, Pennsylvania, then congratulations: you are least likely to have your car stolen, with an average of 25 thefts per 100,000 people. Unfortunately, if you live in any other metropolitan area in the country, you are statistically more likely to have your car stolen, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. You are most likely to have your car stolen in Laredo, Texas, which took the crown from Modesto, California with an incredible rate of 742 thefts per thousand residents in 2009. Modesto slipped to second with a rate of 727 thefts per thousand residents for the last year for which data is available, 2009. The rest of the top of the rankings are dominated by cities in the Western United States, California in particular. In the top fifteen alone, California recorded nine entries, with thirteen in the top twenty five, making it far and away the most likely state in which to have your car stolen. The rest of the top fifteen looks like this:
1. Laredo, Texas: 1792 thefts/742.22 per thousand people
2. Modesto, California: 3712/727.29
3. Bakersfield, CA: 5530/684.91
4. Stockton, CA: 4479/663.69
5. Fresno, CA: 5875/641.89
6. Yakima, WA: 1525/637.93
7. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: 26,374/610.81
8. Visalia-Porterville, CA: 2440/567.88
9. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV: 10706/562.63
10. Albuquerque, NM: 4815/561.25
11. Sacramento-Arden-Arcane-Roseville, CA: 11906/559.66
12. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI: 23,603/536.01
13. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA: 15,837/518.60
14. El Centro, CA: 8511/509.97
15. Columbus, GA: 1464/500.01
Overall, the rankings are dominated by the West Coast, California and Washington in particular, but Georgia also has several entries in the top twenty five. Other large cities are conspicuously lower on the list, making them presumably safer for owning a car:
. 38. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA: 4752/399.33
. 39. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 25,685/398.36
. 67. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL: 30,733/321.20
. 137. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 13,118/219.50
. 213. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA: 7523/163.95
. 223. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY/NJ: 29,755/156.03
These figures go to prove that commonly held assumptions about city safety do not always apply. New York City is a respectable 223 on the list, below such metropolitan areas as Topeka, KS, Toledo, OH, and Yuma, AZ. A city's positioning on this list is taken into account in your auto insurance rate. Auto insurance is more expensive in such cities as Laredo and Modesto due to their large number of auto thefts. This means that comparison shopping is even more important to customers in these high theft areas to ensure the most affordable rate.
Where does your city rank: Abilene-Fresno, Gadsden-Owensboro, Panama City-Yuma City
Written by Sara Smart