There's no denying that smoking takes a toll on a person's health. An average of 12,000 Georgians die of a smoking related illness each year. It also takes a huge toll on the economy and personal finance.
In a recent study by WalletHub, it was discovered that Georgia's true cost of smoking per smoker is $24,928 every year and $1,271,346 over a lifetime.
WalletHub, a personal finance resource, ranked each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
The site's analysis — citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others — included six metrics: out-of-pocket costs, financial opportunity cost, related healthcare costs, income loss due to smoking-related issues, increase in homeowner's insurance premium and secondhand smoke-exposure costs.
Georgia ranked at No. 6 in terms of smoking cost. This is, in part, due to the relative inexpensiveness of out-of-pocket costs. The most expensive state to be a smoker is New York, which has a lifetime cost per smoker of $2,452,735.
There is, however, good news for Georgia's economy. In recent years, the Peach State has seen a decline in the number of smokers and ranks 24th among the states and D.C.
Data sources included multiple federal agencies, such as the Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more.
For more on the methodology and to see where other states ranked, you can go here.
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