Tobacco & Vaping 101: Iowa

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 Iowa. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2021, 12.4 percent of adults were currently smoking in Iowa. This is an 8.8 percent decrease from 2020.
• In 2021 (among all Iowa adults), 3.5 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 15.7 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 15.4 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.1 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2021, 27.6 percent were currently smoking compared to only 7.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among Iowans who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 24.4 percent, while rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 30 percent.
• Among all smoking adults in 2021 in Iowa, 66.7 percent were White, 24.7 percent were Black, 5.3 percent were Hispanic, and only 3.3 percent were Multiracial, non-Hispanic.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Iowa disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The number of percent of Iowa adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking increased by eight percent between 2019 and 2021, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 20.7 percent during the same period.
• Among Iowans who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 24.4 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 30 percent.
• In 2021, 6.8 percent of Iowa adults reported past-month e-cigarette use, which was a 38.8 percent increase from 2017.
• 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 2007 and 2018, smoking rates among Iowa adults aged 18 to 24 years old declined by 56.1 percent. Since 2018, young adult smoking rates have decreased another 65.3 percent, with average annual declines of 25 percent.
• Iowa 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 2021, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent only $0.02 on tobacco control efforts.