25 Percent of This State Smokes Cigarettes — Is It Yours?

Does it surprise you that smoking is STILL the leading cause of preventable diseases, disabilities, and death in America?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every five deaths is because of cigarette smoking. That's around 480,000 annually.

I rarely see anyone smoking where I live, so it's a bit of a wow to me, but maybe you live in one of the states where it's still relatively prevalent.

According to the CDC, there are more than 28 million smokers in the country, and half of them live with a smoking-related disease.

How is that not enough to make you stop? At least smoking has declined by more than 20% in the last 20 years, so I guess those public service announcements, continued health warnings, and even cigarette tax increases have helped.

Then there's the fact that the majority of us are like, "Ew, gross."

Does smoking have to do with where you live? Seven of the eight main tobacco-growing states are in the South. North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.  Pennsylvania also grows it.

According to the MSN website, the South has the most smokers, followed by the Midwest. 

25%

West Virginia

22%

Kentucky

Arkansas

21%

Mississippi

Indiana

20%

Ohio

Tennessee

Oklahoma

Alabama

19%

Wyoming

Michigan

South Carolina

South Dakota

Louisiana

Missouri

18%

Maine

Alaska

North Dakota

Montana

17%

Kansas

North Carolina

New Mexico

Iowa

Pennsylvania

16%

Georgia

Wisconsin

Delaware

Florida

15%

New Hampshire

Nebraska

14%

Vermont

Minnesota

Idaho

Nevada

Rhode Island

Virginia

Arizona

Oregon

13%

Texas

Illinois

Connecticut

Colorado

12%

New York

Hawaii

Washington

11%

Massachusetts

Maryland

New Jersey

9%

California

8%

Utah

By the way, this breaks down to nearly 12% of adults in America smoke. According to the CDC, 13% of those are men, and 10% are women, which truly means barely anyone smokes anymore.