Americans are shelling out over $300 billion dollars each year on tobacco related medical care costs, including the cost for the loss of productivity. Additionally, smoking related illnesses have claimed more than 20 million lives in our country (2.5 million of those were non-smokers) since 1964.

Currently in Wyoming, the state legislature is considering raising the taxes on cigarettes from 60 cents per pack to $1 a pack.  This increase would still keep Wyoming's tax on cigarettes well below the national average of $1.71 per pack.  In case you were wondering, New York has the highest cigarette tax at $4.35 per pack.

In an effort to help encourage tobacco users to kick the habit, WalletHub.com took a peak at the real cost of smoking for each state and Wyoming is just outside the top 10, ranking #13th.  WalletHub considered money spent during a smoker's lifetime (taking into account that most smokers start at 18 years of age and on average die at 69 years old, annual health care expenses caused by smoking, lost wages and other related costs - such as second hand smoke exposure.

The cost numbers are staggering, not only on a state level but also on an individual level.  In Wyoming the total cost per smoker is $25,348, Out of pocket cost is $1,843, Financial Opportunity cost is $15k, and the Income Loss per smoker is $4,731.  Those number are the cost per smoker per year.

On the state level, the cost of smoking in Wyoming is much more shocking.  For the Cowboy state the cost per smoker is $1.2 Million, Out of pocket cost is $94k, Health Care Cost per smoker is $789k and the annual income loss per smoker is $241k.

With a possible cigarette tax increase on the horizon, Wyoming's real cost of smoking could put us into the top 10 states in the country.

For more info and to see the complete list of state rankings and costs - click here.

Source: WalletHub

 

 

More From 107.9 Jack FM