Place Based Inequities in Cigarette Smoking Across the US

Everyone deserves a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Research has shown that commercial tobacco control plays an important role in improving health equity for everyone, no matter where they live. Across the United States, there is unequal protection offered by commercial tobacco control resulting in significant geographical differences in commercial tobacco use, as well as poor health outcomes associated with tobacco. In 2021, the Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates (PLACES)- a collaboration between the CDC and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation– released estimates of smoking prevalence across all US Census tracts, allowing these inequities to be quantified. In a recent scientific letter, “Place Based Inequities in Cigarette Smoking Across the US”, researchers characterized inequities in cigarette smoking in 500 of the largest US cities and found that inequities in smoking prevalence between census tracts were greater within states than between states. Click here to read the full letter.