Tobacco & Vaping 101: South Dakota

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

Key Points: 

• In 2022, 99,692 South Dakota adults (14 percent) were currently smoking. This is an 8.5 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 6,575 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all South Dakota adults), 7.9 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 16.9 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 17.6 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and nine percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 23.5 percent were currently smoking compared to only 6.9 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in South Dakota in 2022, 72.6 percent were White, 19.5 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, 2.5 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 2.5 percent were Asian, 2.2 percent were Hispanic, and less than one percent were Black.
• In 2022, 46,274 South Dakota adults (6.7 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is a 9.8 percent increase from 2021 and represents 5,102 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in South Dakota in 2022, 49.4 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 30 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 18.4 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 2.2 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one South Dakota high school student who was smoking, more than 45 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one South Dakota 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 South Dakota adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 56.1 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in South Dakota disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of South Dakota adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 26.6 percent between 2018 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 48.1 percent during the same period.
• Among South Dakota adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 42 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 23.3 percent.
• South Dakota 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 $0.07 on tobacco control efforts.