1000 x 90

Tobacco-Free Awareness Week Highlights Societal, Economic Costs of Smoking

With Tobacco-Free Awareness Week reminding us of the societal and economic costs of smoking, which total more than $320 billion a year and rising, the personal finance website WalletHub today released its report on The True Cost of Smoking by State.

To encourage the more than 66 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick the dangerous habit, 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.

The Financial Cost of Smoking in North Carolina (1=Lowest, 25=Avg.):

  • Out-of-Pocket Cost per Smoker – $88,570 (Rank: 4th)
  • Financial Opportunity Cost per Smoker – $837,527 (Rank: 4th)
  • Health-Care Cost per Smoker – $136,258 (Rank: 13th)
  • Income Loss per Smoker – $190,507 (Rank: 11th)
  • Other Costs per Smoker – $10,469 (Rank: 23rd)
  • Total Cost Over a Lifetime per Smoker: $1,263,332

For the full report, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/the-financial-cost-of-smoking-by-state/9520/