Tobacco & Vaping 101: West Virginia

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 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 298,879 adults (21 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 4.5 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 14,385 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all West Virginia adults), 12.9 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 26.2 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 26.2 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 12.6 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 39.8 percent were currently smoking compared to only 12.3 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in West Virginia in 2022, 90.2 percent were White, four percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 3.9 percent were Black, and 1.8 percent were Hispanic.
• In 2022, 132,361 West Virginia adults (9.3 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 31 percent increase from 2021 and represents 31,262 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in West Virginia in 2022, 25.9 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 49 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 18 percent were 45 to 64 years old and seven percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one West Virginia high school student who was smoking, more than 53 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one West Virginia high school student who was vaping, more than four 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 West Virginia adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 44.2 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in West Virginia disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of West Virginia adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking remained unchanged between 2016 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 16.3 percent during the same period.
• Among West Virginia adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 6.4 percent, and rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 16.3 percent.
• West Virginia 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.