The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is reporting a four-percent decline in metal thefts from 2017 to 2018.

NICB found that in 2018, there were 2,887 theft claims compared with the 3,017 claims recorded in 2017.

NICB analysts reviewed a total of 5,904 insurance claims for metal thefts occurring from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2018 -- 95% of them for copper theft.

The top five states for metal theft claims were: New Jersey (570), Pennsylvania (488), Ohio (410), New York (405), and Illinois (333). When ranked by the number of claims per 100,000 in population, the top five states are: Connecticut (13.8), New Jersey (11.6), Rhode Island (10.6), Delaware (9.2), and Maryland (7.3).

The top five core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) were: New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (415), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (408), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI (272), Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD (166) and Cleveland-Elyria, OH (123). A total of 444 -- or 8% -- of metal theft claims were either located outside of a CBSA or did not provide enough information to be included in a CBSA.