Tobacco & Vaping 101: Vermont

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 Green Mountain 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 69,200 adults (13 percent) were currently smoking. This a 12.2 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 9,032 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Vermont adults), 8.4 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 15.6 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 16.1 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.6 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 25.9 percent were currently smoking compared to only 6.3 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Vermont in 2022, 73.8 percent were White, 17 percent were Black, 4.1 percent were Hispanic, 2.1 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 1.8 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 1.3 percent were Asian.
• In 2022, 33,003 Vermont adults (6.2 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 24 percent increase from 2021 and represents 6,573 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Vermont in 2022, 43 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 36.9 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 15.1 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 5.1 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Vermont high school student who was smoking, more than 58 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Vermont 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 Vermont adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 33.3 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Vermont disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Vermont adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 18.7 percent between 2015 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 30 percent during the same period.
• Among Vermont adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 0.6 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 19.4 percent.
• Vermont 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 $0.03 on tobacco control efforts.