Kicking the habit: Smoking rate among Americans hits a historic low

The number of American adults who smoke cigarettes has dropped below 10 percent – the lowest level ever recorded.

While 10.8 percent of Americans smoked in 2023, only 9.8 percent smoked in 2024, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings reflect a continual shift away from cigarettes over the last 60 years, as more research was made public regarding ties to cancer and premature death.

However, about 18.8 percent of Americans still used at least one tobacco product in 2024.

“This means that growth in the use of other tobacco products offset the progress on reducing cigarette smoking,” the American Lung Association said in a statement.

“It is imperative that federal tobacco prevention and reduction efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention be rebuilt to counter this trend, and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continue to comprehensively oversee all tobacco products,” the association added.

The report also found that Americans in rural areas were more likely to smoke than those living in cities, who are already exposed to more harmful air pollution.

Decades of damage

Cigarette use has steadily fallen since the 1960s, when the U.S. Surgeon General first reported ties to developing cancer and cigarette advertising was banned on TV and radio.

Since then, more research has tied smoking to lung and heart disease, and smoking has been found to harm every organ in the human body.

More than 480,000 Americans still die from smoking cigarettes each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Smoking causes about 20 percent of all cancers and about 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States,” the society said, noting that people who smoke die about 10 years sooner than people who have never smoked.

E-cigarettes, also known as vapes, don’t have all of the contaminants in tobacco smoke, but they are still unsafe.

The battery-powered devices have been found to contain addictive nicotine, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and cancer-causing chemicals, the American Heart Association warns.

“The liquid used in e-cigarettes can be dangerous, even apart from its intended use. Children and adults have been poisoned by swallowing, breathing or absorbing the liquid through their skin or eyes,” the association wrote.

A hazy future

Younger adults make up the lion’s share of America’s e-cigarette smokers, according to 2025 data from the non-profit United Health Foundation.

“13 percent report regular use, compared with 1.1 percent of those age 65 and older — 11.8 times higher,” the foundation said.

E-cigarette use has been increasing in adults in recent years, according to the CDC.

E-cigarettes were also the most commonly used tobacco products among middle and high school students in 2024, the CDC said, with 1.63 million young students using the products that year.

70 percent of U.S. middle and high school students reported exposure to e-cigarette marketing in 2021, according to the agency.

“What I find most concerning about the rise of vaping is that people who would’ve never smoked otherwise, especially youth, are taking up the habit,” Dr. Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, said in a statement.

“It’s one thing if you convert from cigarette smoking to vaping. It’s quite another thing to start up nicotine use with vaping. And, getting hooked on nicotine often leads to using traditional tobacco products down the road.”