Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Life

It’s a drag: The real cost of smoking in the US revealed

A new review aims to encourage the estimated 28.3 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick this dangerous habit.

© Denis Charlet, AFP
© Denis Charlet, AFP

With the economic costs of smoking totalling more than $600 billion per year in the U.S., the cost on health systems is significant. Tobacco use accounts for nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. each year and is the leading cause of lung cancer.

However, in a country as large as the U.S. the relative costs are not evenly distributed. These variances have been detected by the personal-finance website WalletHub. This is in the report The Real Cost of Smoking by State.

The report not only presents the comparative data, it also aims to encourage the estimated 28.3 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick this dangerous habit.

For the analysis, WalletHub has calculated the potential monetary losses — including the lifetime and annual costs of a pack of cigarettes per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke.

The outcome produces a list of the states with the highest smoking costs:

1. New York

2. District of Columbia

3. Maryland

4. Connecticut

5. Rhode Island

6. Massachusetts

7. Minnesota

8. Hawaii

9. Alaska

10. Washington

In contrast, the states with the lowest smoking costs are:

42. Kentucky

43. Idaho

44. South Carolina

45. Georgia

46. Louisiana

47. North Dakota

48. North Carolina

49. Alabama

50. Missouri

51. Mississippi

Taking into account the typical economics, the estimated lifetime cost of smoking is more than $3.7 million per smoker. In terms of the costs incurred by individuals, the average out-of-pocket cost per smoker is $154,097 over a lifetime.

The distribution of costs shows some variance and smokers in New York will pay the highest cost, shelling out two times more than smokers in Missouri, who pay the least.

There are other ways to assess costs. For example, each smoker will incur an average of $595,052 in income loss over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will lose the highest amount – 1.9 times more than in Mississippi, where smokers will lose the lowest amount.

Taking another measure, each smoker will incur an average of $195,993 in smoking-related health care costs over a lifetime. Smokers in Connecticut will pay the highest amount – 2.6 times more than in Tennessee, where smokers will pay the lowest amount.

Avatar photo
Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

You may also like:

Business

Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for new-business creation.

Business

Cryptocurrencies launched by Donald and Melania Trump have angered some digital currency advocates.

Business

During his inaugural address, Trump said the moves would "end" the "Green New Deal," ridiculing Biden-backed incentives for EV sales.

World

Dozens of giant lanterns in the shape of mythical creatures, flowers and legendary characters light up the night sky in southern China.