Car Thefts in Iowa

How often do people face car thefts in Iowa? A claim came into my office today for a stolen car. I think this is only the second claim I’ve seen for auto theft in nearly five years. I wondered how common it is to get your car stolen in Iowa and this is what I found:

• About 750,000 vehicles are stolen in the U.S. each year
• California has the most vehicle thefts and Vermont has the least
• Iowa car thefts rank #37 of 51 states and the District of Columbia
• Davenport metro has the most thefts in Iowa
• The car most stolen in the U.S. is the Honda Accord

Although there are only 13 states with lower car theft rates than Iowa, it was surprising to me that both New York and New Jersey were among them.  New York ranked as the fourth least state for stolen vehicles. Statistically, you are more than twice as likely to have you vehicle stolen in Iowa than New York. One might hypothesize that larger numbers of unlocked (with and without keys left inside) might have an measurable impact on Iowa’s theft rate.

What do you think? Leave a comment below to offer your reason why New York has a lower car theft rate than Iowa!