Motor vehicle theft in California
California had 317.5 reported motor vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 people in 2025 (US: 199.9), ranking 5 of 50. The rate was down 18.5% from 2024, down 11.3% from 2019, down 27.3% from 2015.
Theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle, including cars, trucks, motorcycles and snowmobiles.
CaliforniaUnited States
Reported motor vehicle theft per 100,000 people
Year by year
| Year | California per 100,000 | US per 100,000 | Offenses reported | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 317.5 | 199.9 | 124,912 | 6.6% |
| 2024 | 389.6 | 257.6 | 153,217 | 6.1% |
| 2023 | 518.5 | 325.8 | 198,292 | 5.6% |
| 2022 | 476.7 | 290.2 | 183,787 | 7.1% |
| 2021 | 302.6 | 239.8 | 31,857 | 6.2% |
| 2020 | 427.3 | 246.8 | 168,086 | 9.4% |
| 2019 | 358.0 | 220.5 | 140,783 | 10.4% |
| 2018 | 392.4 | 230.6 | 155,204 | 9.4% |
| 2017 | 425.9 | 239.0 | 168,369 | 9.1% |
| 2016 | 450.4 | 239.6 | 176,706 | 8.5% |
| 2015 | 436.8 | 222.7 | 170,819 | 8.4% |
Rows in italics: fewer than 80% of the population was covered by agencies reporting that year, mostly during the 2021 switch to the FBI's new incident-based system (NIBRS). Rates for those years are less reliable and we do not use them for comparisons. We also skip comparisons between years whose coverage differs by more than 10 points, because a different set of agencies was reporting.
By month
Average monthly rate across 10 years with good coverage and genuine monthly reporting.
| Month | Per 100,000 | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 37.46 | |
| February | 32.64 | |
| March | 34.86 | |
| April | 34.21 | |
| May | 35.22 | |
| June | 34.50 | |
| July | 35.88 | |
| August | 35.66 | |
| September | 33.79 | |
| October | 35.62 | |
| November | 34.10 | |
| December | 35.38 |
Sources
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, summarized reported offenses and clearances (monthly), retrieved through the CDE data service
- FBI, Uniform Crime Reporting Program: offense definitions and data participation
- FBI, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) transition
Data refreshed by the FBI on 15 October 2026. Checked 29 October 2026. Figures are offenses reported to police and submitted to the FBI, not estimates of all crime.