With the economic and societal costs of smoking totaling more than $300 billion a year and rising, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on The Real Cost of Smoking by State.

To encourage the estimated 36.5 million tobacco users in the U.S. to kick the dangerous habit, WalletHub calculated the potential monetary losses — including the lifetime and annual costs of a cigarette pack per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs — brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.

The Financial Cost of Smoking in Rhode Island (1=Lowest, 25=Avg.)

  • Out-of-Pocket Cost per Smoker – $174,981 (Rank: 50th)
  • Financial-Opportunity Cost per Smoker – $1,469,918 (Rank: 50th)
  • Health-Care Cost per Smoker – $269,173 (Rank: 49th)
  • Income Loss per Smoker – $238,219 (Rank: 32nd)
  • Other Costs per Smoker – $15,154 (Rank: 45th)
  • Total Cost Over Lifetime per Smoker: $2,167,445
  • Total Cost per Year per Smoker: $42,499

Costs Over A Lifetime Across The Country

Source: WalletHub

For the full report, visit:https://wallethub.com/edu/the-financial-cost-of-smoking-by-state/9520/

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...