Registry statistics
For thefts in 2017. ← All years
Thefts by year
⚠ The decline since ~2013 most likely tracks the registry's traffic and popularity over time, not Chicago bike theft itself. Read it as "reports filed per year," not a crime trend.
Seasonality — thefts by month
All years combined, by incident month.
By bike type
What the bike was locked to
- Locked to bike rack. 308 · 36%
- Bike not locked. 270 · 32%
- Other situation, please describe below. 81 · 10%
- Locked to a metal pole, pipe, or fence. 62 · 7%
- Locked to street sign. 52 · 6%
- Locked to a wooden pole, railing, or fence. 40 · 5%
- Bike was locked only to itself. 38 · 4%
Lock effectiveness — how each lock was defeated
Each row reads "given this lock type, here's how those thefts happened." Row-normalized so you can compare lock types regardless of how common each is.
| Lock type | Cut | Picked / opened | Anchor failed | Bike + lock taken | Not locked | Other | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-lock | 19% | 3% | 6% | 59% | 5% | 8% | 2703 |
| Cable lock | 29% | 1% | 1% | 64% | 1% | 3% | 4008 |
| Chain | 24% | 1% | 5% | 58% | 6% | 6% | 390 |
| Other | 4% | 2% | 21% | 25% | 11% | 37% | 2331 |
| Lock type | Cut | Picked / opened | Anchor failed | Bike + lock taken | Not locked | Other | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-lock | 503 | 81 | 161 | 1600 | 141 | 217 | 2703 |
| Cable lock | 1146 | 49 | 57 | 2573 | 56 | 127 | 4008 |
| Chain | 94 | 4 | 20 | 226 | 22 | 24 | 390 |
| Other | 99 | 45 | 501 | 575 | 252 | 859 | 2331 |
This is conditional on a theft and a report being filed — read it as "among reported thefts of bikes on this lock, the share defeated each way," not your odds of being hit. Cable users may also park differently than U-lock users, so this mixes lock strength with behavior. "Bike + lock taken" usually means the bike was lifted off or never secured to a fixed object.
What recovered bikes had in common
Comparing the 7 recovered bikes against all reports — a nudge toward registering details.
When thefts happen — hour × weekday
Darker = more thefts. By incident time (the ~2% with no time recorded are excluded).
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How long the bike had been locked up
Of reports that recorded a duration. The "quick errand" risk is easy to underestimate.
Most-stolen colors
Counts reflect popularity as much as targeting — black is the most common bike color, so being most-stolen isn't evidence dark bikes are targeted more.