Typical NH smoker blows about $3,500 every year

With the economic costs of smoking totaling more than $600 billion per year, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on The Real Cost of Smoking by State, to help encourage the estimated 49.2 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 pack of cigarettes per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs -- brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.

Key Stats

• The estimated lifetime cost of smoking is nearly $4.3 million per smoker.
• The average out-of-pocket cost per smoker is $179,745 over a lifetime. Smokers in New York will pay the most, shelling out 1.8 times more than smokers in North Carolina, who pay the least.
• Each smoker will lose an average of $675,601 income over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will lose the most income - 1.9 times more than in Mississippi, where smokers will lose the least income.
• Each smoker will incur an average of $232,498 in smoking-related health care costs over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will pay the highest amount - 2.9 times more than in Tennessee, where smokers will pay the lowest amount.

Biggest Changes in Rank from Last Year (Rank 1 = Most Expensive)

• Oklahoma went from rank 28 to 34.
• Texas went from rank 34 to 28.
• South Dakota went from rank 35 to 29.
• South Carolina went from rank 51 to 44.
• Wyoming went from rank 46 to 37.

To view the full report and your state or the District's rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/the-financial-cost-of-smoking-by-state/9520