Quick Links
- For help with quitting
- 1-800-QUIT-NOW
1-800-784-8669
Vital Signs: Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults Aged ≥ 18 Years—United States, 2009
September 7, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. 35
MMWR Highlights
Although the number of adults who smoke in the United States has dropped over the last 30 years, very little has changed in recent years.
- In 2005, about 20.9% of adults smoked cigarettes, and in 2009, about 20.6% smoked.
The burden of cigarette smoking continued to be high in 2009, especially among certain groups in the United States.
- More men (23.5%) than women (17.9%) smoked.
- An estimated 29.5% of multiracial adults and 23.2% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults smoked.
- Smoking was higher among people with a lower education level. For example, 26.4% of U.S. adults who did not receive a high school diploma and 49.1% of U.S. adults who have a GED smoked, whereas only 5.6% of people with a graduate degree smoked.
- An estimated 31.1% of people living below the poverty level smoked.
In 2009, states and regions in the United States had different smoking rates.
- The state with the lowest smoking rate was Utah (9.8%).
- The states with the highest smoking rates were Kentucky (25.6%) and West Virginia (25.6%).
- When looking at smoking rates in U.S. regions, fewer people smoked in the West (16.4%) and more people smoked in the South (21.8%) and Midwest (23.1%).
More needs to be done to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking and reduce smoking-related disease and death.
- Population- and evidence-based strategies such as price increases, comprehensive smoke-free policies, and countering tobacco industry influence need to be aggressively implemented in coordination with providing access to affordable and effective cessation treatments and services.
- Full implementation of comprehensive tobacco control policies and programs at CDC-recommended levels of funding is required to further reduce the current prevalence of smoking across the lifespan.
Get email updates
To receive email updates about Smoking & Tobacco Use, enter your email address:
Contact Us:
- CDC/Office on Smoking and Health
4770 Buford Highway
MS F-79
Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3717 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
8am–8pm ET
Monday–Friday
Closed Holidays - tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
