Missouri lands in top 10 for car thefts despite nationwide decline

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Missouri was ranked among the top 10 states for vehicle theft in 2025, despite vehicle thefts declining in the U.S.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Missouri brought in a total 17,496 car thefts in 2025.

Carly McKinnis, a spokesperson for AAA, said Missouri’s ranking at No. 10 is an improvement from 2024, but vehicle theft remains a major issue in the Show Me State.

“In 2024, Missouri had a total of 24,900 vehicles stolen reported to police, and in 2025 that number did dip, but it was still 18,267, so still a lot of vehicles are being stolen from Missouri homes, roads and businesses,” she said.

McKinnis said she reached out to the NICB and learned that three Missouri metro areas ranked among the top 50 in the nation per capita vehicle theft rates from 2022 to 2025.

“Kansas City ranked Sixth, St. Joseph ranked 32, and St. Louis ranked 46. That would be a per capita rate,” she said.  “St. Joseph, even though the volume isn’t huge, the per capita rate based on the town’s population is pretty high to be the 32nd worst in the United States for that.”

Sgt. Stephaine Insell with St. Joseph Police Department, said vehicle theft is not as common in St. Joseph, but is something that happens a lot.

“We had roughly, just shy of 240 stolen vehicles over 2025. If you look at our case numbers, like how many incidents or 911 calls, self-initiated calls we had for 2025, in general, we had 77,000, so only 240 of those were stolen vehicles,” she said.

Insell said the most common ways vehicles are being stolen are by people leaving their doors unlocked or if someone they know has access to their vehicle.

"When you think about wintertime and when they're starting their vehicle, because it’s cold, they're warming their vehicle up,” she said.  "They leave it unlocked, they leave the keys in it, and it’s running; it makes for an easy target. If someone you know steals your keys and they have access to your car, or say, 'hey, can I borrow your car?' and just doesn’t bring it back.”

Insell said the most targeted areas for vehicle theft are places that have a lot of traffic or a lot of cars.

“Residential places where there are a lot of cars parked along the street, so they can hit more than one, or they can check handles to hit more than one,” she said. "Parking garages, because there are a lot of options, and there are usually not many security cameras.”

SJPD has recovered 80% of stolen vehicles in 2025. Insell said new technology for tracking cars helps with recovering the cars.

"Most cars nowadays have OnStar on them, and we can call OnStar if it’s set up. Some of them can actually turn off the car so that they can’t go anywhere, and they can track it and locate it,” she said.

Not only does vehicle theft cause trauma to the vehicle owner, but can also raise insurance rates for the policyholder.

"Insurance is always based on risk. You look at the age of the driver, their past vehicle history and also where they live,” she said. “If that risk is higher for a place where vehicles are more likely to be stolen, guess what, your premium is likely going to be higher than your neighbor who lives in a rural area with a very low vehicle theft rate.”

Insell offered several tips to vehicle owners on how to protect their vehicles from theft.

“Make sure your doors are locked, keep your keys out of them, and don't have valuables in your car because they see that as a target. Also, parking somewhere where there is plenty of light and security cameras,” she said.

The NICB also provided which vehicles were most likely to be stolen across the nation.