Vital Signs

Latest Findings

Tobacco Use: Smoking
Millions of people in the US still smoke

The decline in smoking has stalled in the past five years.

• In 2005, about 20.9% of adults smoked cigarettes. In 2009 about 20.6% smoked.

Some groups smoke more.

• More men (nearly 24%) than women (about 18%) smoke.
• Nearly 30% of multiracial adults and 23% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults smoke.
• Smoking rates are higher among people with a lower education level. For example, nearly 1 in 2 of all US adults who have a GED smoke; only around 6% of people with a graduate degree smoke.
• About 31% of people who live below the poverty level smoke.

Although the number of teenagers in the US who smoke continues to drop year after year, progress is slowing.

• In 1997, about 36% of high school students smoked cigarettes.
• Between 1997–2003, the rates of smoking among high school students dropped from 36% to about 22%. However, between 2003 to 2009, declines slowed from 22% to 20%. The slowing decline in teen cigarette use suggests that smoking and all the health problems related to smoking will continue as teens become adults.
• In 2009, nearly 1 in 5 high school students (20%) still smoked cigarettes. Monitoring teen smoking is important because most adult smokers (about 80%) began smoking before the age of 18.

States and regions in the US have different smoking rates.

• Utah has the lowest smoking rate; fewer than 10% of adults in Utah smoke cigarettes.
• Kentucky and West Virginia have the highest smoking rates; nearly 26% of adults smoke in both states.
• Fewer people smoke in the West (about 16%), and more people smoke in the Southeast (about 22%) and Midwest (about 23%).