How Much Cigarettes Cost the Average Smoker

The average cost for a pack of cigarettes in the United States is currently about $6.00. The price varies by state, because different states charge different sales taxes. According to the website, smokefreekids.org, South Carolina has the lowest sales tax at $.07, while Rhode Island has the highest at $3.46. If you are lucky enough to live in New York City, you will pay even more in taxes due to additional local taxes. There is also a federal excise tax that was raised to $1.01 a pack in 2009. How much do cigarettes cost the average smoker?

If you smoke an average of one pack of cigarettes a day, you spend about $2,184 a year. Imagine the productive things that you could do with that money: pay off a credit card bill, sock the money away in your IRA, maybe even go on a cruise. Instead the money just gets wasted, gone in a puff of smoke.

If you think you can avoid the sales tax by purchasing your cigarettes online, in states with lower tax rates or from Indian reservations, think again. Many states are now tracking down those who purchase in this manner and sending them huge back sales and use tax bills.

There are hidden costs to cigarette smoking as well. Cigarettes can cost the average smoker higher life and health insurance premiums. Cigarette smoking causes soot and nicotine to collect on your clothes, in your car and on your walls which in turn increases cleaning and maintenance expenses. There is also a social cost. As cigarette smoking is being banned in more and more public places, smokers are forced to huddle in far away corners away from the rest of society.

Cigarettes can also cost the average smoker a job. A small, but increasing number of companies, are refusing to hire cigarette smokers. Cigarette smokers take more breaks than the average non-smoker and the cost of insuring a smoker is higher than insuring a non-smoker. Cigarette smokers have more health problems than non-smokers. All this adds up to lost productivity and higher costs for companies.

Cigarettes cost the average smoker more and more every year. As of October 28, Philip Morris is raising their prices six to eight cents a pack depending on the brand. Maybe it is time to rethink this habit and start planning for that cruise instead.