Major disparities in smoking rates based on ethnicity, income and sexual orientation: Surgeon general

Despite progress the United States population has made in reducing its cigarette smoking, the measure of that progress has not been equal for all groups, according to a new report from the Surgeon General.

However, in 2020, the latest year for which complete data is available, 27.1% of American Indian and Alaska Native people reported being current cigarette smokers. That’s more than double the 13.3% of white participants and nearly double the 14.4% of Black Americans who repotted being current smokers, the report stated.

Additionally, smoking among Americans living in poverty was more than twice as common, compared to those not living in poverty, the report found. In 2020, 20.2% of those making under $35,000 a year were reportedly current cigarette smokers, compared to 6.2% of those making $100,000 or more per year.

Smoking was also higher among Americans who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual. Among adults, 16.3% of LGB adults identified as being current cigarette smokers compared to 12.5% of heterosexual adults between 2019 and 2021, according to the report.

When looking at rates among high school students over the same period, 10.4% of LGB teenagers reported current cigarette use, double the 5.3% of heterosexual teenagers.

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