Tobacco & Vaping 101: Illinois

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 Prairie 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 1.2 million adults (12.4 percent) were currently smoking. This a 3.3 percent increase from 2021 and represents 36,686 additional adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Illinois adults), 5.8 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 15.1 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 15.2 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.2 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 23.9 percent were currently smoking compared to only 8.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Illinois in 2022, 64.5 percent were White, 16.7 percent were Black, 13.4 percent were Hispanic, three percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), and 2.4 percent were Asian.
• In 2022, 512,819 Illinois adults (5.2 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is an 18.8 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 118,749 fewer adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Illinois in 2022, 37.3 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 44.8 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 16.6 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 1.3 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Illinois high school student who was smoking, more than 146 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Illinois high school student who was vaping, more than 11 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 Illinois adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 51.3 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Illinois disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Illinois adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking increased by 2.6 percent between 2019 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 20.9 percent during the same period.
• Among Illinois adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 13.2 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 29.4 percent.
• Illinois 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 less than $0.01 on tobacco control efforts.