Women in Kentucky are lighting up more than anywhere else in the country. So it should come as no surprise that Kentucky women also have the highest rate of lung cancer. Nearly 27 percent of women in the bluegrass state are smokers. On the other end of the spectrum is Utah, where less than 10 percent of women smoke—the lowest rate in the country, so it makes sense that Utah also has the lowest rate of lung cancer.
Here’s how the states rank when it comes to women who smoke: the #1 state on this list has the lowest percentage of women smokers while #50 has the highest. The numbers below are percentages.
Rank | State | % |
---|---|---|
1 | Utah | 9.6 |
2 | California | 10.1 |
3 | Hawaii | 13.9 |
4 | New Jersey | 14.6 |
5 | Idaho | 15 |
5 | Texas | 15 |
7 | Colorado | 15.2 |
8 | Connecticut | 15.4 |
9 | Washington | 16.2 |
10 | Vermont | 16.5 |
11 | New York | 16.8 |
12 | Florida | 16.9 |
12 | Massachusetts | 16.9 |
14 | Minnesota | 17 |
15 | Maryland | 17.2 |
16 | Arizona | 17.5 |
17 | Illinois | 17.8 |
18 | Nebraska | 17.9 |
19 | Georgia | 18.2 |
19 | New Mexico | 18.2 |
21 | Delaware | 18.3 |
22 | Oregon | 18.4 |
23 | New Hampshire | 18.5 |
24 | Iowa | 18.6 |
25 | Rhode Island | 18.8 |
26 | Wisconsin | 19.1 |
27 | North Carolina | 19.2 |
28 | Kansas | 19.5 |
28 | North Dakota | 19.5 |
30 | Michigan | 19.7 |
31 | Nevada | 20.2 |
32 | Virginia | 20.5 |
33 | Maine | 20.6 |
34 | South Carolina | 20.7 |
35 | Alabama | 21 |
35 | Montana | 21 |
37 | Tennessee | 21.3 |
38 | Pennsylvania | 21.5 |
39 | South Dakota | 21.7 |
40 | Mississippi | 21.8 |
40 | Wyoming | 21.8 |
42 | Louisiana | 22.3 |
43 | Alaska | 23 |
44 | Missouri | 23.6 |
45 | Indiana | 23.8 |
46 | Ohio | 24.2 |
47 | Oklahoma | 24.3 |
48 | Arkansas | 25.2 |
49 | West Virginia | 25.9 |
50 | Kentucky | 26.6 |
Source: Centers for Disease Control, 2011
See the State of Women methodology and sources.
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.