U.S. smoking rate hits record low while e-cigarette use levels off: CDC

Renewed popularity of smoking in Hollywood doesn't appear to be rubbing off on ordinary Americans.

By Greg Piper

Published: May 30, 2026 4:17pm

Despite the renewed popularity of smoking in Hollywood, the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke tobacco hit a new record low in 2025, just 9%, according to "early release" estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2025 National Health Interview Survey.

It fell from 10% in 2024, while e-cigarette use leveled off at around 7% in 2025 after "inching up among adults" in prior years, the Associated Press said.

The survey findings are based on responses from more than 24,000 adults, who were deemed current smokers if they had "at least 100 cigarettes in a lifetime" and currently smoke "every day or some days."

Total tobacco use stands at 19%, however, according to a March study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence, based on 2023–2024 National Health Interview Survey data with more than 60,000 adult participants. The researchers included e-cigarettes because the government regulates them as tobacco despite containing no tobacco.