Interactive maps: See which KY counties have smoking rates far above the national level
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Toll of Tobacco
Kentucky is No. 2 in smoking and No. 1 in lung cancer. Why is so much of the state still addicted to cigarettes, and what needs to change?
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Kentucky continues to have one of the highest adult smoking rates in the country at 21.4 percent, behind only West Virginia. That results in thousands of early deaths annually, a high incidence of lung cancer and hundreds of millions in health care costs.
These interactive maps have information on smoking rates around Kentucky, the state’s cigarette tax and farms producing tobacco.
The smoking rate varies widely by county in Kentucky, with some counties at more than double the state level.
Tobacco control advocates say that higher prices on cigarettes are one measure to decrease smoking. Despite Kentucky’s high smoking rate, its tax on a pack of cigarettes is relatively low.
Tobacco was an integral part of the farm economy in Kentucky for decades but the number of farms producing tobacco began dropping steadily in the mid-1980s.
Kentucky needs to do more to curb smoking and the damage it does, an expert at the University of Kentucky argues.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
