what percent of americans smoke

As of 2021, approximately 11.5% of U.S. adults currently smoke cigarettes, which means an estimated 28.3 million adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes. This is a significant decrease from the 1960s when about 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The percentage of adult smokers has been gradually dropping for decades due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans, and changes in the social acceptability of smoking in public. The latest preliminary data from the National Health Interview Survey, a biannual survey that provides general information about health-related topics, shows that about 11% of adults told the CDC last year that they were current cigarette smokers.