What a Pack of Cigarettes Costs, in Every State

by Helen Holmes

Every summer since 2011, The Awl has divined the price of a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes by calling a convenience store in every state in America because — here’s a definitive fact for you — cigarettes are cool. Certain editors at this publication may currently be inclined to say otherwise due to old age, but cigarettes are amazing. They look great dangling from your lips outside a party, they feel smooth and comforting between your fingers on the long walk to a final exam, they taste amazing after two drinks. (I will concede that I once tried to smoke a cigarette after breakfast and almost threw up. Nobody’s perfect!)

Cigarettes are also expensive, especially in New York, where they are the most expensive. They are cheapest in Virginia, where the price has once again dipped below five dollars per pack, so you are welcome to uproot your life and move there, where you can smoke sixty cigarettes a day and die gasping in the Great Dismal Swamp instead of shelling out for juice cleanses.

According to a recent report from New York’s Independent Budget Office, smoking rates in New York have steadily increased since 2010, “in tandem with declines in spending on tobacco control programs.” This suits me fine, as New York has always hovered in my mind’s eye as a perpetually steaming metropolis, haunted by smokestacks imprisoned in human bodies. Also, vaping sucks.

As always, YMMV.

49. Virginia: $4.98 / Last year’s price: $5.25 / -5%

48. North Dakota: $5.10 / Last year’s price: $5.33 / -5%

47. Georgia: $5.14 / Last year’s price: $6.39 / -20%

46. Wyoming $5.45 / Last year’s price: $5.41 / +1%

Tied with: Kentucky $5.45 / Last year’s price: $5.40 / +1%

45. West Virginia $5.52 / Last year’s price: $5.43 / +2%

44. Idaho $5.61 / Last year’s price: $5.41 / +4%

43. Missouri $5.64 / Last year’s price: $5.25 / +7%

42. Tennessee $5.70 / Last year’s price: $5.30 / +7%

41. Oklahoma $5.71 / Last year’s price: $6.29 / -10%

40. Mississippi $5.75 / Last year’s price: $6.34 / -10%

39. South Carolina $5.91 / Last year’s price: $5.58 / +6%

38. Colorado $5.93 / Last year’s price: $5.65 / +5%

37. Alabama $5.97 / Last year’s price: $5.51 / +8%

36. Oregon $6.06 / Last year’s price: $5.69 / +6%

35. Louisiana $6.07 / Last year’s price: $5.44 / +10%

34. Delaware $6.08 / Last year’s price: $6.35 / -5%

33. North Carolina $6.12 / Last year’s price: $5.45 / +11%

32. Iowa $6.18 / Last year’s price: $6.29 / -2%

31. Indiana $6.26 / Last year’s price: $5.97 / +5%

30. Nebraska $6.32 / Last year’s price: $6.23 / +2%

29. New Hampshire $6.44 / Last year’s price: $6.44 / 0%

28. South Dakota $6.49 / Last year’s price: $6.08 / +6%

27. Montana $6.63 / Last year’s price: $6.46 / +3%

26. Michigan $6.64 / Last year’s price: $8.00 / -17%

25. Ohio $6.69 / Last year’s price: $6.03 / +10%

Tied with: Texas $6.69 / Last year’s price: $6.69 / 0%

24. Maryland $6.78 / Last year’s price: $7.75 / -13%

23. New Mexico $7.01 / Last year’s price: $7.67 / -9%

22. Kansas $7.02 / Last year’s price: $5.83 / +7%

21. Pennsylvania $7.04 / Last year’s price: $6.85 /

20. Arkansas $7.09 / Last year’s price: $6.07 / +15%

19. Utah $7.12 / Last year’s price: $6.89 / +3%

18. Maine $7.47 / Last year’s price: $7.37 / +2%

17. Arizona $7.75 / Last year’s price: $8.05 / -4%

16. California $7.81 / Last year’s price: $5.89 / +15%

15. Hawaii $8.02 / Last year’s price: $9.55 / -16%

14. Wisconsin $8.06 / Last year’s price: $8.82 / -9%

13. Minnesota $8.36 / Last year’s price: $8.10 / +5%

12. Washington, D.C. $8.39 / Last year’s price: $7.99 / +5%

11. Florida $8.40 / Last year’s price: $6.30 / +15%

10. Connecticut $8.53 / Last year’s price: $9.52 / -10%

9. New Jersey $8.60 / Last year’s price: $8.20 / +5%

8. Nevada $8.64 / Last year’s price: $6.15 / +29%

7. Vermont $9.02 / Last year’s price: $9.62 / -6%

6. Rhode Island $9.13 / Last year’s price: $8.95 / +2%

5. Washington $9.22 / Last year’s price: $9.30 / -1%

4. Massachusetts $10.53 / Last year’s price: $9.95 / +6%

3. Alaska $13.10 / Last year’s price: $9.79 / +25%

2. Illinois $13.25 / Last year’s price: $11.50 / +13%

1. New York $13.50 / Last year’s price: $12.85 / +5%

Average price $7.26 / Last year’s average price: $7.03 / + 3%

Photo of a better time and place by Daniel Oines