Crime & Safety
Portland 5th In Nation For Car Thefts: Report
Also among the top 10 metro cities for car thefts in the U.S., Gresham reportedly ranked 8th, according to ASecureLife.com.
PORTLAND, OR — Portland was recently ranked fifth among the top 20 metro cities in the nation for car thefts. Gresham, Portland's eastern neighbor, was also among the top 10.
ASecureLife.com, a security industry online consultancy and product reviewer, last week released a report ranking the top 20 metro cities where your car could most likely be stolen. Basing its calculation on the numbers of car thefts per 1,000 residents, ASecureLife.com reportedly found nearly three-quarters of the top 20 cities are west of the Rocky Mountains.
According to ASecureLife.com, the reason the West Coast has such a disproportionate number of car thefts is possibly because folks living in the west may be more car-dependent than their East Coast peers. That is, western U.S. cities are more spread out and often lack the same kind of public transit infrastructure found in many East Coast cities, the website reasoned.
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For example, while the website found Portland was fifth most likely, it also determined — perhaps surprisingly for Oregonians — New York City is the seventh least likely city to have your car stolen.
Additionally, the website found Honda owners are at the greatest risk of theft, as Honda's Accords and Civics were found to be the top two most popular models for car thieves; more than 45,000 Accords — nationwide — and more than 43,760 Civics were reportedly stolen in 2017.
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Ford and Chevy pickups were ranked third and fourth, while the Toyota Camry rounded out the top five models.
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The top 20 as ranked by ASecureLife.com are:
| Rank | City, State | Population | Cars Stolen per 1,000 people |
| 1 | Oakland, California | 424,998 | 7.08 |
| 2 | Springfield, Missouri | 168,307 | 5.85 |
| 3 | Hayward, California | 161,122 | 5.72 |
| 4 | Richmond, California | 110,868 | 5.66 |
| 5 | Portland, Oregon | 642,129 | 5.57 |
| 6 | Tacoma, Washington | 209,914 | 5.13 |
| 7 | San Bernardino, California | 217,303 | 5.12 |
| 8 | Gresham, Oregon | 111,491 | 5.11 |
| 9 | Kent, Washington | 128,604 | 4.98 |
| 10 | Independence, Missouri | 117,335 | 4.86 |
| 11 | Anchorage, Alaska | 299,097 | 4.81 |
| 12 | Pueblo, Colorado | 109,927 | 4.80 |
| 13 | Antioch, California | 112,090 | 4.77 |
| 14 | West Valley, Utah | 137,558 | 4.65 |
| 15 | Salt Lake City, Utah | 193,918 | 4.58 |
| 16 | Salinas, California | 158,729 | 4.54 |
| 17 | Tulsa, Oklahoma | 405,748 | 4.41 |
| 18 | Cleveland, Ohio | 386,227 | 4.32 |
| 19 | Baltimore, Maryland | 618,385 | 4.24 |
| 20 | Vallejo, California | 122,293 | 4.17 |
Along with its report identifying places you may want to take extra care with your car, the website also offered a few tips for how to protect yourself in those high-danger cities.
From parking in well-lit areas to ensuring all valuables are hidden from view outside the vehicle, the website suggests doing all you can to make stealing your car as difficult an undertaking as possible.
Click here to see ASecureLife.com's full report, and let us know what you think of its findings in the comment section below.
Have you had a car stolen in the metro region? Tell us your story by emailing Oregon Editor Travis.Loose@Patch.com.
Image via Shutterstock
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