Tobacco & Vaping 101: Minnesota

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

Key Points: 

• In 2021, 13.4 percent of adults were currently smoking in Minnesota. This is a 2.9 percent decrease from 2020.
• In 2021 (among all Minnesota adults), 6.9 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 16.8 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 15.9 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.4 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2021, 25.9 percent were currently smoking compared to only 8.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in 2021, 82.6 percent were White, 5.8 percent were Black, 3.7 percent were Hispanic, 3.1 percent were Asian, 2.2 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.5 percent were Multiracial, non-Hispanic.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Minnesota disproportionately impact low-income persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percent of Minnesota adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 4.6 percent between 2017 and 2021, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 13.8 percent during the same period.
• In 2021, 5.7 percent of Minnesota adults reported past-month e-cigarette use, which was a 54.1 percent increase from 2017. 
• Youth vaping seems to have peaked among Minnesota youth in 2019.
• Between 2019 and 2022, current e-cigarette use among 8th graders decreased by 45.5 percent, among 9th graders vaping rates decreased by 56.3 percent and by 46.2 percent among 11th graders.
• Combustible cigarette use is at record lows. In 2022, two percent of 8th graders, two percent of 9th graders and four percent of 11th graders reported past-month combustible cigarette use.
• 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, young adult smoking rates declined by 28.2 percent. Since 2018, young adult smoking rates have decreased another 50.7 percent, with average annual declines of 20.3 percent.
• Minnesota 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.