--- description: A greater share of Bluegrass State residents smoke cigarettes than in any other state, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday title: Kentucky Has Largest Share Of Smokers, Utah The Least image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7dd065146d46bc9/69868449e8524b3f8c601ae5/86364911.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Smoking](/tag/smoking/) ## Smoking Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kentucky Is For Smokers  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 6:42 PM CUT  Open pack of cigarettes, isolated on white. Open pack of cigarettes, isolated on white.Getty Images  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 6:42 PM CUT Kentucky still has the largest share of smokers in the U.S, according to a new Gallup poll. A total of 30.2% of residents of the Bluegrass State [smoke cigarettes](http://www.gallup.com/poll/167771/smoking-rate-lowest-utah-highest-kentucky.aspx?utm%5Fsource=alert&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=syndication&utm%5Fcontent=morelink&utm%5Fterm=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Well-Being "undefined"), narrowly beating out nearby West Virginia’s smoking rate of 29.9%. The states have held the top two positions since 2008. The state with the nation’s lowest smoking rate, 12.2%, is Utah, where six in ten residents identify as Mormon, a religion with a strict prohibition against smoking. In all, 19.7% of Americans smoke cigarettes according to Gallup, down from 21.1% in 2008\. For purposes of the poll, a cigarette smoker is defined simply as someone who responds “Yes,” to the question: “Do you smoke?” The state where the smoking rate has fallen most since 2008 (the first year Gallup gathered sufficient data on the question) is Alaska, where 18.7% of the population smokes. That’s 6.5% fewer smokers today than in 2008. And while smoking rates decreased in nearly every state of the Union between 2008 and today, they ticked up ever so slightly in one: Hawaii, where 19.4% of the population smokes. But maybe Gallup just happened to call while President Obama was vacationing back home…. \[[Gallup](http://www.gallup.com/poll/167771/smoking-rate-lowest-utah-highest-kentucky.aspx?utm%5Fsource=alert&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=syndication&utm%5Fcontent=morelink&utm%5Fterm=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Well-Being "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23735/kentucky-is-for-smokers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23735/kentucky-is-for-smokers/"},"headline":"Kentucky Is For Smokers","datePublished":"2014-03-13T18:42:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:45:35.628Z","description":"A greater share of Bluegrass State residents smoke cigarettes than in any other state, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday","url":"https://time.com/23735/kentucky-is-for-smokers/","keywords":["Smoking","Cigarettes","Utah","Kentucky"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7dd065146d46bc9/69868449e8524b3f8c601ae5/86364911.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7dd065146d46bc9/69868449e8524b3f8c601ae5/86364911.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cigarette","caption":"86364911","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/smoking/","name":"Smoking"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/23735/kentucky-is-for-smokers/","name":"Kentucky Is For Smokers"}}]}] ```