How Does Connecticut’s Smoking Rate Compare to the Nation?

Cigarettes are delicious and refreshing. No, that’s not a scientific fact, but it's definitely what my brain tells me every single day. I quit smoking about 3 or 4 years ago, and let me tell you, not a single day goes by where I don't think about my little buddies. I miss them.

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I started smoking when I was 17 and wrapped it up in my early 40s. It was long overdue—I was wheezing, and my workouts were getting harder. I know quitting was the right choice for my health and my personal aroma, but that doesn't stop me from daydreaming about picking up a pack and tricking myself into thinking I can handle just one or two a week.

I was born in 1979, and when I was a kid, you couldn’t walk into a room without getting hit by a cloud of cigarette smoke. It was just part of life—everyone smoked. Fast forward to today, and there’s no hiding from the harsh truth about how smoking impacts your health, or how smokers are treated in 2025. You can’t smoke anywhere! I remember toward the end of my smoking career, standing outside by a dumpster in the cold with another smoker, complaining about how we were treated like mutants in the modern era.

On the Wednesday (3/19/25) edition of the I-95 Morning Show, we’re running down an Ask Reddit list of "Things That Have Gradually Disappeared Over the Last Decade Without People Really Noticing."

That got me thinking—when was the last time you saw someone smoking in Connecticut? Honestly, I don’t see it much anymore. But when my family and I travel to other states, it’s like stepping back in time—smokers are everywhere. So, I started wondering: is it just me, or is smoking really on the decline here? A little research from World Population Review confirmed my hunch.

They’ve got a list of Smoking Rates by State for 2025, and here’s how it breaks down:

Top 10 States for Smoking Percentage:

1. West Virginia - 26%
2. Kentucky - 24.6%
3. Louisiana - 23.1%
4. Tennessee - 22.6%
5. Arkansas - 22.3%
6. Mississippi - 22.2%
7. Indiana - 21.8%
8. Ohio - 21.1%
9. Alaska - 21%
10. Alabama - 20.9%

Bottom 5 States for Smoking Percentage:

• Utah - 8.9%
• California - 11.3%
• Connecticut - 12.7%
• Hawaii - 12.8%
• Washington - 13.5%

So yeah, my gut feeling was right smoking in Connecticut is practically a thing of the past. And honestly? It makes me a little sad. I’m nostalgic for those simpler, less healthy times, when I was much happier, surrounded by the comforting haze of cigarette smoke.

West Virginia huh? Me, delicious lung darts and the Blue Ridge Mountains? I can see it.