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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – With the economic and societal costs of smoking totaling more than $300 billion per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on The Real Cost of Smoking by State, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary.
To encourage the estimated 34.2 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick this dangerous habit, WalletHub calculated the potential monetary losses — including the lifetime and annual costs of a cigarette pack per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
| States with the Lowest Smoking Costs | States with the Highest Smoking Costs | |
| 1. Georgia | 42. New Jersey | |
| 2. Mississippi | 43. Minnesota | |
| 3. Missouri | 44. Alaska | |
| 4. North Carolina | 45. Hawaii | |
| 5. Alabama | 46. Maryland | |
| 6. South Carolina | 47. Rhode Island | |
| 7. Tennessee | 48. New York | |
| 8. Kentucky | 49. Massachusetts | |
| 9. Idaho | 50. Connecticut | |
| 10. Louisiana | 51. District of Columbia | |
Key Stats
- The estimated financial cost of smoking over a lifetime is just above $2.3 million per smoker.
- The average out-of-pocket cost per smoker is $133,911 over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will pay the highest cost, $197,801, which is two times higher than in Missouri, where smokers will pay the lowest cost at $96,535.
- Each smoker will incur an average of $545,166 in income loss over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will lose the highest amount, $746,669, which is 1.9 times higher than in Mississippi, where smokers will lose the lowest amount at $389,500.
- Each smoker will incur an average of $177,599 in smoking-related health-care costs over a lifetime. Smokers in Massachusetts will pay the highest amount, $316,377, which is 2.6 times higher than in Arkansas, where smokers will pay the lowest amount at $120,430.
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/the-