WalletHub’s analysts calculated the potential monetary losses — including the cumulative cost of a cigarette pack per day over several decades, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
WalletHub estimated the financial cost of smoking in the U.S. to be roughly $1.6 million per smoker over a lifetime.
| States with the Lowest Smoking Costs | States with the Highest Smoking Costs | |||
| 1 | Louisiana | 42 | District of Columbia | |
| 2 | Kentucky | 43 | New Jersey | |
| 3 | Missouri | 44 | Washington | |
| 4 | West Virginia | 45 | Minnesota | |
| 5 | North Carolina | 46 | Rhode Island | |
| 6 | Georgia | 47 | Connecticut | |
| 7 | Tennessee | 48 | Hawaii | |
| 8 | South Carolina | 49 | Alaska | |
| 9 | Mississippi | 50 | Massachusetts | |
| 10 | Alabama | 51 | New York | |
Key Findings
- The out-of-pocket cost per smoker is $115,214 over a lifetime. Smokers in New York will pay two times more than smokers in Missouri.
- The financial opportunity cost per smoker is $1,089,471 over a lifetime. Smokers in New York will pay two times more than smokers in Missouri.
- Each smoker will incur an average of $220,855 in income loss over a lifetime. Smokers in Mississippi will lose the least, $161,013, which is 2 times less than in Maryland, the state that will lose the most.
- Each smoker will incur an average of $164,876 in smoking-related health-care costs over a lifetime. Smokers in Massachusetts will pay two times more than smokers in Kentucky.
