Smoking costs SC smokers $2.3M over a lifetime, study shows

South Carolinians who smoke lose more than their health.

They also lose plenty of money.

In fact, South Carolina is the eighth most expensive state for an average smoker over his or her lifetime, a new study shows.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and accounts for about 480,000 deaths per year in the U.S. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

On top of the loss of life, smoking costs people financially — more than $600 billion in the U.S. annually, including both medical care and lost productivity, the CDC states. And depending on which state you live in, annual costs for smoking can be greater than other parts of the U.S.

So what does that mean for South Carolina smokers?

Well in the Palmetto State, smoking costs the average smoker more than $2.3 million over a lifetime or $48,962 a year — ranking it as the eighth most expensive state for a smoker, a WalletHub study shows.

WalletHub, a major personal finance website, recently examined the true cost of smoking for individuals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The site’s study calculated the potential monetary losses, including both lifetime and annual costs of a daily pack of cigarettes, health care spending, income losses and other costs brought on by smoking. The study even took into account the financial opportunity cost of smoking, meaning the amount of return a person would have earned by investing the money spent on smoking in the stock market over a lifetime.

Here is a list of where South Carolina ranked among the most significant metrics that helped determine its total ranking in the study.

• Out-of-Pocket Cost per Smoker – $119,486 (Rank: 7^th)
• Financial-Opportunity Cost per Smoker – $1,599,222 (Rank: 7^th)
• Health-Care Cost per Smoker – $144,542 (Rank: 11^th)
• Income Loss per Smoker – $474,025 (Rank: 10^th)
• Other Costs per Smoker – $12,885 (Rank: 24^th)
• Total Cost Over Lifetime per Smoker: $2,350,160
• Total Cost per Year per Smoker: $48,962

For the calculations, the study assumed an adult who smokes one pack of cigarettes a day beginning at 21 years old, when a person can legally buy cigarettes in the U.S. The study also assumed a lifespan of 48 years, considering that 69 is the average age smokers die.

Data for the study came from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDC, the Insurance Information Institute and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

For information and resources to help you quit smoking in South Carolina, click here.

This story was originally published January 17, 2023 8:00 AM.

Patrick McCreless is the service journalism editor for The State, where he and a team of reporters write about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.