Tobacco & Vaping 101: Missouri

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 Show-Me 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 808,592 adults (16.8 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 2.9 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 18,976 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Missouri adults), 6.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 23.4 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 18.8 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 10.5 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 30.1 percent were currently smoking compared to only 11.2 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Missouri in 2022, 76.6 percent were White, 11.3 percent were Black, five percent were (Multiracial, non-Hispanic), 3.5 percent were Hispanic, 2.5 percent were American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 1.1 percent were Asian.
• In 2022, 389,857 Missouri adults (8.1 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 9.5 percent increase from 2021 and represents 35,868 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Missouri in 2022, 31 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 51.2 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 13.6 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 4.1 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Missouri high school student who was smoking, more than 59 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Missouri 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 Missouri adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 66.1 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Missouri disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Missouri adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 14.7 percent between 2002 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 53.1 percent during the same period.
• Among Missouri adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 13.5 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 42.4 percent.
• Missouri 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.