Tobacco & Vaping 101: California

Lawmakers are often bombarded with misinformation on the products used by adults in their state. This annual analysis provides up-to-date data on the adults who use cigarettes and e-cigarette products in the Golden State. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2022, an estimated 2.9 million adults (9.7 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 10.2 percent increase from 2021 and represents 279,824 additional adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all California adults), four percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 11.8 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 11.9 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 6.3 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 18.8 percent were currently smoking compared to only 6.9 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in California in 2022, 36.9 percent were White, 33.5 percent were Hispanic, 13 percent were Asian, 8.6 percent were Black, 4.5 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 2.3 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 1.1 percent were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
• In 2022, 2.2 million California adults (7.3 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 40.4 percent increase from 2021 and represents 644,011 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in California in 2022, 25.4 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 51.8 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 19.1 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 3.7 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one U.S. high school student who was smoking, more than 63 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one U.S. high school student who was vaping, more than six adults were currently using e-cigarettes.
• The introduction of e-cigarettes has not led to increases in cigarette smoking, but rather, correlates with significant declines in smoking rates among young adults.
• Between 2018 and 2022, smoking rates among California adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 55.6 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in California disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of California adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking increased by 20.5 percent between 2017 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 22.8 percent during the same period.
• Among California adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates increased by 4.3 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 13.2 percent.
• California woefully underfunds programs to prevent youth use of tobacco and/or vapor products and help adults quit smoking, while simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the pockets of the adults who smoke. In 2022, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent $0.10 on tobacco control efforts.