Unless you or someone close to you has had their car stolen, auto theft can seem like a video game or Hollywood movie. The reality is that thousands of cars are stolen every year. Did you ever wonder where your city fits in with respect to car theft? If so, you are in luck.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau's annual “Hot Spots” report finds that auto thefts are rising again after an eight-year decline. As reported in www.thestreet.com.

Modesto, Calif., racked up the nation's worst theft rate and recorded more than 4,200 thefts last year. Youngstown, Ohio, with a similar population, had just 910. Among the 25 largest U.S. cities, the differences are striking. Your car is eight times more likely to be stolen in San Francisco than in Pittsburgh.

In Los Angeles alone, a staggering 52,000 cars were snatched in 2012.

We're including each city's rank among all 380 metro areas and the local theft trend since 2010.

Unless you've bought comprehensive insurance, you are not insured against theft.

The most popular theft targets tend to be mid-1990s Japanese cars, which are old enough that most owners are unlikely to keep them insured for anything other than mandatory liability coverage.

Are you heading out to get your Gorilla Grip or Lojack device? Don’t you agree that the world would be a better place if people did not steal?