It’s something that would have seemed impossible just a few decades ago, but somehow, smoking a cigarette has become thoroughly uncool. Research out this week shows how the smoking rate in America has plummeted to a record low.
Scientists studied nationally representative survey data. Based on this, they estimated that less than 10% of U.S. adults smoked a cigarette in 2024—the first time this rate has ever dropped to single digits. Despite the astounding success, more is needed to further discourage the use of cigarettes and tobacco products in general, the researchers argue.
“Maintaining a centralized federal capacity for tobacco prevention and control is essential to sustaining progress in reducing smoking prevalence,” they wrote in their paper, published Tuesday in NEJM Evidence.
The end of smoking?
There have been few public health victories more dramatic in recent history than the curbing of smoking.
In 1964, the same year the U.S. surgeon general issued his report outlining the now-established dangers of smoking, 42% of adults reported smoking. Following that report and a widespread public health campaign, the smoking rate slowly but steadily declined over time. This drop has especially accelerated since the early 2000s, however, thanks largely to younger generations that avoided picking up a cigarette in the first place.
Smoking has long been known to increase the risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer, along with other health issues. And the decline in smoking has been one of the major contributors to the lowering death rate of cancer. A 2025 report from the American Cancer Society estimated that reduced smoking resulted in nearly four million averted deaths from lung cancer between 1970 and 2022.
The scientists behind the study say that efforts to monitor and report the smoking rate in the U.S. have been interrupted as of late (they didn’t elaborate as to why, but the covid-19 pandemic likely played a role). So this research is intended to provide an update on the situation.
The study analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey, a long-running annual and nationally representative poll of Americans’ lifestyle habits conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It looked at rates of reported tobacco or nicotine product use between 2023 and 2024.
In 2023, an estimated 10.8% of the adult population smoked cigarettes, the study found; by 2024, the rate had dropped to 9.9%, or about 25 million Americans.
More to be done
Should this rate of decline continue, the U.S. might meet or even exceed the federal government’s goal of cutting the smoking rate down to 6.1% by 2030, the researchers say. There are still some hurdles to keeping tobacco under control, however.
For instance, the rate of cigar smoking and other tobacco or nicotine products, including electronic cigarettes, hasn’t budged lately. E-cigarette use is especially more prevalent among young adults (14.8% of those between 18 and 24). Overall, 18.8% of adults used some tobacco product in 2024, or about 47.7 million Americans.
“The lack of change in cigar and e-cigarette use calls for intensified implementation of comprehensive tobacco control policies addressing all products,” the study concluded. That said, other recent research has shown that e-cigarettes have become less popular among younger generations, so it’s possible even vaping could be on its way out soon enough.
The loss of smoking might be a downer for people who love their action movie clichés, but it’s undoubtedly been a net good for lungs everywhere.
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