Graphic of the week

Analysis included in HPIO’s policy brief, Health Impacts of Tobacco Use in Ohio, found that while overall smoking rates have declined over the past three decades, this has not been the case for people with low incomes. As a result, low-income communities experience a much greater impact of tobacco use than communities with higher incomes. In 1995, Ohioans with very low incomes (less than $15,000 a year) were 36% more likely than those with higher incomes ($50,000 or more a year) to smoke cigarettes. By 2020, this gap had increased to 107%, as illustrated in the graphic above.