--- title: The American Smoker Burns Up $1.4 Million in Their Lifetime description: The average American smoker will lose at least $1 million on cigarette related expenditures over their lifetime says a new study canonical: https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/ author: Kevin McSpadden article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-22T10:00:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:46:34.884Z article:section: Health og:title: American Smokers Burn Up at Least $1M og:description: For Alaskans the figure surpasses $2 million. og:url: https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: American Smokers Burn Up at Least $1M twitter:description: For Alaskans the figure surpasses $2 million. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Typical American Smokers Burn Up at Least $1 Million During Their Lifetimes by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Jan 22, 2015 10:00 AM UTC by [Kevin McSpadden](https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Jan 22, 2015 10:00 AM UTC American smokers [spend at least $1 million dollars](http://wallethub.com/edu/the-financial-cost-of-smoking-by-state/9520/) on cigarette-related expenditures over their lifetimes, according to a state-by-state analysis done by the financial consultancy company WalletHub. The most expensive state for smokers is Alaska, where the habit costs over $2 million dollars on average. For a bargain, move to South Carolina, but that still comes in at nearly $1.1 million. “I and most people really just think of the cost of cigarettes and taxes on the packs, but if you think about the healthcare costs, which can totally be avoided, healthcare insurance premiums, and in the workplace, bias against smokers, that can … add up,” said WalletHub spokeswoman Jill Gonzalez. The study’s “average smoker” is someone who smokes one pack a day starting from the age of 18 (legal age to buy) and ending at 69 (the average age of death for a smoker). So, if you’re looking for another excuse to quit, perhaps take a quick peak down millionaire’s row. The American Smoker Burns Up $1.4 Million in Their Lifetime ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/"},"headline":"Typical American Smokers Burn Up at Least $1 Million During Their Lifetimes","datePublished":"2015-01-22T10:00:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:46:34.884Z","description":"Alaska smokers will spend over $2 million","url":"https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/","keywords":["Addiction","Health Care","Smoking","Cigarettes","Cancer","U.S.","Healthcare","health","toxins"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin McSpadden","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"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/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3678013/smoking-cigarettes-health-addiction/","name":"Typical American Smokers Burn Up at Least $1 Million During Their Lifetimes"}}]}] ```