Property crime · FBI arrest data · 2024
Motor vehicle theft Arrests
60,152 arrests for motor vehicle theft were reported across the U.S. in 2024 — 0.9% of all reported arrests.
Who was arrested for motor vehicle theft
By sex & age
Shares of all motor vehicle theft arrests.
By race & ethnicity
Agencies report race and ethnicity separately from the age/sex counts, so shares below are of the 58,740 race entries reported (50,872 ethnicity entries) — a different universe than the total above, which it can undershoot or occasionally exceed.
| White | 34,198 | 58.2% |
| Black or African American | 22,568 | 38.4% |
| American Indian / Alaska Native | 913 | 1.6% |
| Asian / Pacific Islander | 1,061 | 1.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 13,298 | 26.1% |
States with the most motor vehicle theft arrests
Reported arrests, 2024 — reporting coverage varies by state.
| State | Arrests | Share of state's arrests |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 7,201 | 1.3% |
| New York | 5,971 | 1.8% |
| California | 5,780 | 1.0% |
| Colorado | 3,176 | 1.8% |
| Tennessee | 2,696 | 1.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 2,357 | 0.9% |
| Maryland | 1,823 | 1.6% |
| Florida | 1,655 | 0.8% |
| North Carolina | 1,632 | 0.7% |
| Michigan | 1,621 | 0.9% |
| Arizona | 1,551 | 0.7% |
| Oregon | 1,521 | 1.3% |
| Missouri | 1,513 | 1.1% |
| Ohio | 1,381 | 0.8% |
| Virginia | 1,353 | 0.7% |
More property crime arrests
About this data
- Counts are arrests, not people. One person arrested twice counts twice; an arrest with several charges counts once, under the most serious charge.
- Reported agencies only. Figures cover the ~14,500 agencies in the FBI's 2024 Uniform Crime Reporting arrest (ASR) file — about 94–95% of the FBI's official national total, which additionally counts agencies that report only through NIBRS. Nothing here is estimated for non-reporting agencies, so totals slightly undercount and are not strictly comparable across areas with different reporting coverage.
- Location is the arresting agency's headquarters, not where the arrest happened. Multi-jurisdiction agencies (state police, sheriffs, transit police) concentrate in one county — county figures are approximate, and about 3% of arrests come from agencies that can't be placed in any county.
- Race and ethnicity are reported separately from the age/sex counts, and not for every arrest — race is reported for ≈95% of arrests, ethnicity for ≈81%. Shares here use those reported subtotals as denominators.
- No per-capita rates. Because reporting coverage varies by area, population-adjusted rates would mislead; we show counts only. Arrests measure enforcement activity, not crime rates.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2024 Arrest (ASR) master file. pumsdata is independent and not affiliated with the FBI. How our data works.
Motor vehicle theft arrests — FAQ
How many motor vehicle theft arrests were there in the U.S. in 2024?+
60,152 arrests for motor vehicle theft were reported to the FBI in 2024 — 0.9% of all reported arrests. The true number is somewhat higher because not every agency reports.
Which state had the most motor vehicle theft arrests?+
Texas reported the most (7,201), followed by New York (5,971) and California (5,780). Reporting coverage varies by state.
Who gets arrested for motor vehicle theft?+
In 2024, 19.4% of motor vehicle theft arrests were of women and 22.6% were of juveniles under 18 (of 60,152 total).