Tobacco & Vaping 101: Kentucky

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

Key Points: 

• In 2022, 610,346 Kentucky adults (17.4 percent) were currently smoking. This is an 11.2 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 74,377 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Kentucky adults), 9.2 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 17.1 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 25 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 11.7 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 32.4 percent were currently smoking compared to only 10.3 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Kentucky in 2022, 85.1 percent were White, 9.3 percent were Black, and 5.6 percent were Hispanic.
• In 2022, 368,312 Kentucky adults (10.5 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is a 4.7 percent increase from 2021 and represents 43,418 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Kentucky in 2022, 33.4 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 45.1 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 16.1 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 5.4 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Kentucky high school student who was smoking, more than 70 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Kentucky high school student who was vaping, more than seven 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 Kentucky adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 54.9 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Kentucky disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Kentucky adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 26.7 percent between 2002 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 55.5 percent during the same period.
• Among Kentucky adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 47.4 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 59.2 percent.
• Kentucky 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.