State-Specific Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking and Quitting Among Adults—United States, 2004

November 11, 2005 / Vol. 54 / No. 44

MMWR Highlights

• For the second year in a row, Utah was the only state to reach the Healthy People 2010 objective of reducing smoking prevalence to 12% or less. California reached the objective among the female population.
• Adult current smoking prevalence varied considerably across 49 states, the District of Columbia (DC), Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). For the states and the District of Columbia, prevalence ranged from 10.5% (Utah) to 27.6% (Kentucky).
• Kentucky (27.6%), West Virginia (26.9%), Oklahoma (26.1%) and Tennessee (26.1%) had the highest prevalence of current smokers. Smoking prevalence was lowest in Utah (10.5%), California (14.8%), and Idaho (17.5%).
• Smoking prevalence was 9.5% in the U.S. Virgin Islands and 12.7% in Puerto Rico.
• More than half of states (34) have achieved percentages of ever smokers who have quit of 50% or greater.
• Including 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands, 36 states/areas had percentages of ever smokers who have quit at or above 50%.
• Four states had percentages of ever smokers who have quit of 60 percent or higher including: Connecticut (62.5%), California (62.0%), Vermont (60.5%), and Utah (60.1%).
• The five states with the lowest percentages of ever smokers who have quit were Kentucky (42.5%), Mississippi (44.0%), Alabama (45.6%), and Louisiana and Tennessee (45.9%).
• The prevalence of never smoking was highest in Utah (73.7%) and California (61.1%) and lowest in Maine (47.7%) and West Virginia (48.0%).
• In the majority of states, most adults have never been smokers and among those who have ever smoked, the majority have quit.
• However, the rate of decline is not rapid enough for most states to reach the Healthy People 2010 national health objective of reducing adult smoking prevalence to 12% or less.