{"id":2791,"date":"2026-06-24T22:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791"},"modified":"2026-06-24T22:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:37:14","slug":"whos-still-smoking-rates-vary-across-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><div>KEY POINTS<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li>Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.<\/li><li>Utah has the lowest adult smoking rate at 6%, West Virginia highest at 20.4%.<\/li><li>Secondhand smoke leads to over 40,000 adult deaths yearly in the U.S.<\/li><\/ul><div><\/div><p>Smoking rates have been dropping for years, but the habit remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States, responsible when combined with secondhand smoke for about 1 in 5 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2789\">What Cristiano Ronaldo said about God after scoring his first 2026 FIFA World Cup goal<\/a><\/p><p>\u201cSmoking harms nearly every organ of the body,\u201d according to the CDC\u2019s National and State Tobacco Control Program, which adds that the habit is bad for smokers\u2019 health in general. <\/p><p>More than 16 million Americans have one or more diseases caused by smoking, responsible for $170 billion in direct medical costs that CDC officials say would be saved \u201cif we could prevent youth from starting to smoke and help every person who smokes to quit.\u201d<\/p><p>Secondhand smoke is believed to contribute to more than 40,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 infant deaths each year, per the CDC.<\/p><h3>States with the highest and lowest cigarette use<\/h3><p>With smoking rates dropping, who\u2019s still smoking? <\/p><p>According to state fact sheets that looked at 2023 CDC data, Utah has the lowest rate of adult smokers at 6%. Among high school youth in 2021, 9.5% said they currently used a tobacco product, while 1.9% said they smoked cigarettes.<\/p><p>West Virginia has the highest rate of adult smokers at 20.4%. In West Virginia in 2021, 27% of high school youth said they were currently using any tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, while 7.6% said they were smoking cigarettes.<\/p><p>An analysis by VisualCapitalist reported that smoking rates for adults were highest across Appalachia and the South, while several states in the West and Northeast have seen smoking drop to the single digits.<\/p><p>VisualCapitalist reported that \u201cUtah\u2019s exceptionally low rate is often attributed to cultural and religious influences, along with longstanding public health efforts.\u201d<\/p><p>Anti-smoking messaging and action has also reduced smoking. The CDC reported that Utah has more than 35,000 smoke-free housing units in 18 counties and \u201chas developed a toolkit and signage to assist communities\/property management companies that voluntarily adopt smoke-free housing.\u201d<\/p><p>The highest smoking rates, after West Virginia, are found in Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Alaska, South Dakota, Ohio and Arizona. In those states at least 15% of adults smoke.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2787\">Australian man breaks world record for loudest man, but just how loud is he?<\/a><\/p><p>In contrast, the states with the lowest rates of smoking, besides Utah, are Connecticut, California, Washington, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, District of Columbia and Massachusetts \u2014 all with fewer than 10% of adults smoking.<\/p><h3>Reasons to kick the habit<\/h3><p>The CDC noted that smoking affects more than the smoker; there\u2019s no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. \u201cIt causes stroke, lung cancer and coronary heart disease in adults.\u201d<\/p><p>The World Health Organization also keeps stats on tobacco use, its purview global, and reported last June that tobacco kills up to half of users who don\u2019t quit. More than 7 million people worldwide die each year, including about 1.6 million who didn\u2019t smoke but are exposed to it secondhand.<\/p><p>Per the international public health giant, \u201cThe tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, responsible for over 7 million deaths annually as well as disability and long-term suffering from tobacco-related diseases.\u201d <\/p><p>The WHO adds that all tobacco forms are bad for health and that roughly 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.<\/p><h3>Smoking among U.S. youth<\/h3><p>The CDC reports that smoking or using tobacco in any form typically begins in adolescence and adds that 9 out of 10 adults who regularly smoke cigarettes first tried tobacco before they were 18. <\/p><p>\u201cIn 2024, approximately 2 in 5 students who had ever used a tobacco product currently use them,\u201d the public health organization reported. It added that flavorings can make tobacco products more appealing to young people. <\/p><p>In 2024, 8.1% of U.S. middle school and high school students used a tobacco product. For 5.9%, the product was e-cigarettes, which has been the tobacco product of choice for youths since 2014. In that survey, 1 of every 29 middle school students said they\u2019d used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days, while 1 in 13 high school students said that. <\/p><p>Overall among the surveyed youths, 1.8% used nicotine pouches and 1.4% used cigarettes. At lower rates, the students used cigars, smokeless tobacco, other oral nicotine products, heated tobacco products, hookahs and pipe tobacco.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2785\">Opinion: George Will isn\u2019t bullish on this year\u2019s Fourth of July. But here\u2019s why he\u2019s more optimistic about future ones<\/a><\/p><\/div><div><\/div><div><div><div>Join the Conversation<\/div><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div><div>Looking for comments?<\/div><div>Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them \u2014 or use the button below for quick access.<\/div><button>VIEW COMMENTS<\/button><\/div><div><div><button>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"18\" height=\"17\" alt=\"close\" class=\"wp-image-783\" src=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/504a71651714d85af663ed15a2e68144.webp\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which states have the most smokers? What does smoking do to health? Can smoking cause cancer? Do teens smoke? What are health effects of tobacco use?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Which states have the most smokers? What does smoking do to health? Can smoking cause cancer? Do teens smoke? What are health effects of tobacco use?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/504a71651714d85af663ed15a2e68144.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"18\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"17\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791\"},\"wordCount\":825,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791\",\"name\":\"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif\",\"width\":630,\"height\":331},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2791#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Movers Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub","og_description":"Which states have the most smokers? What does smoking do to health? Can smoking cause cancer? Do teens smoke? What are health effects of tobacco use?","og_url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791","og_site_name":"American Movers Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":18,"height":17,"url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/504a71651714d85af663ed15a2e68144.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"headline":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states","datePublished":"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791"},"wordCount":825,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif","articleSection":["Lifestyle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791","name":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states - American Movers Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-24T22:37:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/df76cf8c6d84da5f6de931b17a0d23fb.avif","width":630,"height":331},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2791#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Who\u2019s still smoking? Rates vary across states"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/","name":"American Movers Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanmovershub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}