Eight of ten American metro areas with the highest risk for car thefts are in California, according to a new report from the website Cheap Car Insurance.
Those cities don't include Los Angeles, but Riverside-San Bernardino is on the list at number nine. Modesto (first), Albuquerque (second), Bakersfield (third), Salinas (fourth) and the Bay Area (fifth) compose the top five.
The site bases its list on National Insurance Crime Bureau data. "The most dangerous communities to leave your car are the California cities of Modesto and Bakersfield, as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico, each with thousands of vehicle thefts reported in 2015," according to the analysis.
The most stolen car in California is the Honda Accord, which is also the national leader, with 52,244 reported missing last year, the report says.
The West Coast has the lowest car-theft arrest rate of any U.S. region, the site found. It used FBI uniform crime data for that conclusion. "Fewer than 9 percent of car thieves [on the coast] are eventually arrested – a fact that might account for the higher crime levels in California and Washington," the site states.
However, paranoia is not necessary. Cheap Car Insurance says car theft nationwide has dropped 50 percent since 2003.
