Tobacco & Vaping 101: South Carolina

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 Palmetto 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 641,373 adults (15.4 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 0.6 percent decrease from 2021. Due to population increases, there were 9,963 additional adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all South Carolina adults), seven percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 19 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 20.1 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.9 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 27 percent were currently smoking compared to only 8.6 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in South Carolina in 2022, 60.8 percent were White, 27 percent were Black, 5.2 percent were Hispanic, 4.5 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), and 2.6 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native.
• In 2022, 341,510 South Carolina adults (8.2 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 13.9 percent increase from 2021 and represents 48,210 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in South Carolina in 2022, 29.7 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 51.5 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 15.1 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 3.7 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one South Carolina high school student who was smoking, more than 81 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one South Carolina 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 South Carolina adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 50 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in South Carolina disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of South Carolina adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 16.7 percent between 2010 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 30.6 percent during the same period.
• Among South Carolina adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 11.1 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 38.7 percent.
• South Carolina 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 $0.02 on tobacco control efforts.