There are more than 34 million tobacco users in the U.S. According to the American Lung Association, tobacco accounts for nearly half a million deaths in the nation each year and it is the leading cause of lung cancer.
Every year, smoking costs the country more than $300 billion. The personal finance website WalletHub studied the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the real costs of smoking by state.
Analyst Jill Gonzalez says Georgia fared better than most.
“Per year, we’re looking at a cost of just over $24,000 but with all that being said, it’s actually the second cheapest state to be a smoker in,” according to Gonzalez.
WalletHub analysts studied a variety of factors to determine their list.
“You know, how much a pack of cigarettes in each state would be, and the tax on that pack, which certainly differs from state to state. We also looked at the health care costs per smoker, direct medical costs to treat smoking-connected health complications, as well as higher premiums, income loss per smoker; right now a smoker makes about 8% less than a nonsmoker, so we took that into account.”
And they considered sometimes, hidden costs of tobacco use.
“Typically nonsmokers are entitled to a homeowners’ insurance credit of anywhere from five to 15%.
Which adds up to $1. 2 million over the lifetime of a Georgia smoker. Gonzalez says if smokers invested just what they spend in cigarettes alone, over 50 years, that would add up to almost $800,000 that go go to investments.
The lowest smoking costs were in North Carolina, while New York was the most expensive place to smoke.
Analysts say every year, smoking costs the U.S. more than $300 billion, that includes medical care, lost productivity and other costs.
For more information visit WalletHub.com.
