How music gear gets lost, stolen and broken: the numbers

Police recorded 11,195 thefts of musical instruments in 2025, about 31 a day. The count comes from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), where police agencies file a record of each crime, including what was taken and what they think it was worth. Agencies sending NIBRS data covered nearly 90% of the US population in 2025.

A theft here is one crime. A burglar who takes three guitars and an amp is one theft. The count leaves out thefts nobody reported, so the real number is higher.

Police put the value of the instruments stolen in 2025 at $23.5 million, not counting 8 reports of $100,000 or more. The typical theft took $800 of gear. In 42% of thefts it was more than $1,000, and in one in ten it was $5,000 or more.

Reported thefts fell from 12,447 in 2023 to 11,195 in 2025, even as more police agencies joined NIBRS. Property crime as a whole fell 12.4% in 2025, according to the FBI.

Two in five instrument thefts in 2025 happened at a home. Next came streets and parking lots (15%), rental storage units (13%) and stores (12%), which are mostly shops losing stock.

Storage units stand out. Across all burglaries and larcenies in 2025, about 1 in 85 happened at a rental storage facility (FBI NIBRS Table 18). For instruments it was 1 in 8.

One in five instrument thefts was from a vehicle, about the same share as for thefts of anything. Those instruments came back least often: police recovered 4.7% of them.

Police recorded 354 instrument thefts at churches, synagogues, temples and mosques, nearly one a day, and 430 at schools and colleges. Bars, restaurants and venues (185) and hotels (133) were less common.

Police recovered an instrument in 8% of the thefts they recorded in 2025, and about 7% of the value stolen came back. The rate was 7.5% in 2024 and 7.6% in 2023.

When an instrument did come back, it was usually soon. Half of recoveries came within two days of the theft, and 68% within a week. That's why the first day matters: report it, get the serial number on the police report, and post it where local buyers will see it. The stolen gear guide walks through each step.

You may have read that a million instruments are stolen in the US every year and 3% are recovered. That figure has no official source. It appears in a 2016 press release for an anti-theft device, and earlier in a 2003 article quoting a maker of instrument tracking tags. Police record about 11,000 to 12,500 instrument thefts a year. Even if three in four thefts went unreported, the total would be under 50,000.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics runs the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which asks households whether they were victims of crime, whether or not they told the police.

In 2024, households reported 25% of thefts, 41% of burglaries and 75% of vehicle thefts to the police. That left about 7.9 million household thefts that never reached a police record. The survey doesn't ask what was taken, so there's no reporting rate for instruments alone.

Reporting a theft is also how a recovered instrument finds its way home: police can only match a serial number to a report that exists.

US airlines mishandled 2,322,133 checked bags from July 2025 to June 2026, about 1 in every 200 they carried, according to the Department of Transportation. Mishandled means lost, delayed, damaged or stolen. The DOT doesn't separate them, and it has no category for instruments.

Rates vary by airline. In the first half of 2026, United and American mishandled about 0.7 of every 100 bags, more than five times Allegiant's 0.12.

Since 2015, federal rules have required US airlines to let a small instrument such as a guitar or violin fly as a carry-on if it fits in the bin or under a seat and there's room when you board. A larger instrument can fly in a seat you buy for it. The flying guide covers what to do at the gate.

Few people take a complaint to the government. For every baggage complaint the DOT received in early 2026, airlines reported about 270 mishandled bags.

Fire and flood records count homes, not what was inside them, so there's no figure for instruments. Most homeowners and renters policies don't cover flood damage, according to FEMA.

Dry winter air cracks wooden instruments. Martin and Taylor recommend keeping guitars at 45% to 55% relative humidity. January air heated to 70°F starts at about 9% in Minneapolis and 16% in New York, by Ramble's calculation from NOAA climate normals, before cooking, showers or a humidifier add moisture.