A new study has found that an average of $1.4 million goes up in smoke per person in a lifetime, CBS News reports. Researchers calculated the cumulative cost of a cigarette pack per day over a 51 year period, between the years of 18 and 69, the average age a smoker passes away.
Next, researchers factored in how much smokers would have earned if they placed their money into the stock market. When you couple the two factors together, tobacco costs an average of $1.03 million after a lifetime of smoking, the study found.
Many smokers are unaware of the costs of health care for smoking related illnesses. Quitting not only “saves you the money of not buying a pack, but you don’t realize how much you are saving in health care and insurance premiums,” said WalletHub spokeswoman Jill Gonzalez. “That is really what will impact people, seeing all of these prices added together.”
Naturally, in southern states where American tobacco is grown, taxes are lower, which means the lifetime cost of purchasing cigarettes was significantly lower than the country’s average.
The highest smoking costs were found in Alaska ($2.03 million).
After Alaska, the highest smoking costs were found in: Connecticut ($1.99 million); New York ($1.98 million); Massachusetts ($1.98 million); Rhode Island ($1.95 million); New Jersey ($1.87 million); Hawaii ($1.85 million); Washington, D.C. ($1.75 million); Vermont ($1.74 million); and Washington ($1.67 million).The 10 states with the lowest smoking costs are: South Carolina ($1.1 million); West Virginia ($1.1 million); Kentucky ($1.1 million); Mississippi ($1.15 million); Georgia ($1.15 million); Tennessee ($1.17 million); Alabama ($1.18 million); Missouri ($1.18 million); North Carolina ($1.19 million); and Louisiana ($1.2 million).
The findings can be found on WalletHub.
