Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023

Robeson County had the highest adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate of 100 counties in 2023, at 22.5%. Orange County had the lowest, at 9.3%. The median was 15.8%. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest22.5Robeson County
Lowest9.3Orange County
Median15.8100 counties

Map of counties, 2023

Alamance County: 13.9 %Alexander County: 16.8 %Alleghany County: 17.2 %Anson County: 19.7 %Ashe County: 15.5 %Avery County: 15.8 %Beaufort County: 16.1 %Bertie County: 18.3 %Bladen County: 16.8 %Brunswick County: 12.4 %Buncombe County: 12.3 %Burke County: 17 %Cabarrus County: 12.4 %Caldwell County: 17 %Camden County: 13.1 %Carteret County: 12.7 %Caswell County: 16.9 %Catawba County: 14.7 %Chatham County: 11.5 %Cherokee County: 15.6 %Chowan County: 16.8 %Clay County: 13.8 %Cleveland County: 16.4 %Columbus County: 18.3 %Craven County: 14 %Cumberland County: 14.8 %Currituck County: 13.2 %Dare County: 11.4 %Davidson County: 15.8 %Davie County: 13.5 %Duplin County: 16.3 %Durham County: 10.7 %Edgecombe County: 17.7 %Forsyth County: 13.4 %Franklin County: 14.8 %Gaston County: 15 %Gates County: 16.6 %Graham County: 15.7 %Granville County: 15.4 %Greene County: 19.6 %Guilford County: 13 %Halifax County: 19.8 %Harnett County: 15.3 %Haywood County: 13.9 %Henderson County: 12.7 %Hertford County: 17.6 %Hoke County: 16.5 %Hyde County: 19 %Iredell County: 12.9 %Jackson County: 14.2 %Johnston County: 14.2 %Jones County: 18.1 %Lee County: 15.5 %Lenoir County: 19.3 %Lincoln County: 14 %McDowell County: 17 %Macon County: 14.9 %Madison County: 13.9 %Martin County: 17.3 %Mecklenburg County: 10.8 %Mitchell County: 14.6 %Montgomery County: 16.4 %Moore County: 11.4 %Nash County: 15.6 %New Hanover County: 11.6 %Northampton County: 17.2 %Onslow County: 13.3 %Orange County: 9.3 %Pamlico County: 14.3 %Pasquotank County: 13.9 %Pender County: 14.3 %Perquimans County: 15.2 %Person County: 16.2 %Pitt County: 13.8 %Polk County: 13 %Randolph County: 16.7 %Richmond County: 19.5 %Robeson County: 22.5 %Rockingham County: 17.3 %Rowan County: 15.9 %Rutherford County: 17.3 %Sampson County: 17.2 %Scotland County: 21.3 %Stanly County: 16 %Stokes County: 16.2 %Surry County: 17.1 %Swain County: 19.8 %Transylvania County: 12 %Tyrrell County: 18.1 %Union County: 11.9 %Vance County: 17.3 %Wake County: 9.6 %Warren County: 18.6 %Washington County: 19 %Watauga County: 12.3 %Wayne County: 16.2 %Wilkes County: 17.1 %Wilson County: 18 %Yadkin County: 16.3 %Yancey County: 15.9 %
  • Under 13
  • 13 to 14
  • 14 to 16
  • 16 to 17
  • 17 to 18
  • 18 and over
%, 2023. Source: CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2023

Robeson County: 22.5 %Robeson County22.5Scotland County: 21.3 %Scotland County21.3Halifax County: 19.8 %Halifax County19.8Swain County: 19.8 %Swain County19.8Anson County: 19.7 %Anson County19.7Greene County: 19.6 %Greene County19.6Richmond County: 19.5 %Richmond County19.5Lenoir County: 19.3 %Lenoir County19.3Hyde County: 19 %Hyde County19Washington County: 19 %Washington County19Warren County: 18.6 %Warren County18.6Bertie County: 18.3 %Bertie County18.3Columbus County: 18.3 %Columbus County18.3Jones County: 18.1 %Jones County18.1Tyrrell County: 18.1 %Tyrrell County18.1Wilson County: 18 %Wilson County18Edgecombe County: 17.7 %Edgecombe County17.7Hertford County: 17.6 %Hertford County17.6Martin County: 17.3 %Martin County17.3Rockingham County: 17.3 %Rockingham County17.3Rutherford County: 17.3 %Rutherford County17.3Vance County: 17.3 %Vance County17.3Alleghany County: 17.2 %Alleghany County17.2Northampton County: 17.2 %Northampton County17.2Sampson County: 17.2 %Sampson County17.2Surry County: 17.1 %Surry County17.1Wilkes County: 17.1 %Wilkes County17.1Burke County: 17 %Burke County17Caldwell County: 17 %Caldwell County17McDowell County: 17 %McDowell County17Caswell County: 16.9 %Caswell County16.9Alexander County: 16.8 %Alexander County16.8Bladen County: 16.8 %Bladen County16.8Chowan County: 16.8 %Chowan County16.8Randolph County: 16.7 %Randolph County16.7Gates County: 16.6 %Gates County16.6Hoke County: 16.5 %Hoke County16.5Cleveland County: 16.4 %Cleveland County16.4Montgomery County: 16.4 %Montgomery County16.4Duplin County: 16.3 %Duplin County16.3Robeson County: 22.5 %Robeson County22.5Scotland County: 21.3 %Scotland County21.3Halifax County: 19.8 %Halifax County19.8Swain County: 19.8 %Swain County19.8Anson County: 19.7 %Anson County19.7Greene County: 19.6 %Greene County19.6Richmond County: 19.5 %Richmond County19.5Lenoir County: 19.3 %Lenoir County19.3Hyde County: 19 %Hyde County19Washington County: 19 %Washington County19Warren County: 18.6 %Warren County18.6Bertie County: 18.3 %Bertie County18.3Columbus County: 18.3 %Columbus County18.3Jones County: 18.1 %Jones County18.1Tyrrell County: 18.1 %Tyrrell County18.1Wilson County: 18 %Wilson County18Edgecombe County: 17.7 %Edgecombe County17.7Hertford County: 17.6 %Hertford County17.6Martin County: 17.3 %Martin County17.3Rockingham County: 17.3 %Rockingham County17.3Rutherford County: 17.3 %Rutherford County17.3Vance County: 17.3 %Vance County17.3Alleghany County: 17.2 %Alleghany County17.2Northampton County: 17.2 %Northampton County17.2Sampson County: 17.2 %Sampson County17.2Surry County: 17.1 %Surry County17.1Wilkes County: 17.1 %Wilkes County17.1Burke County: 17 %Burke County17Caldwell County: 17 %Caldwell County17McDowell County: 17 %McDowell County17Caswell County: 16.9 %Caswell County16.9Alexander County: 16.8 %Alexander County16.8Bladen County: 16.8 %Bladen County16.8Chowan County: 16.8 %Chowan County16.8Randolph County: 16.7 %Randolph County16.7Gates County: 16.6 %Gates County16.6Hoke County: 16.5 %Hoke County16.5Cleveland County: 16.4 %Cleveland County16.4Montgomery County: 16.4 %Montgomery County16.4Duplin County: 16.3 %Duplin County16.3
%. Source: CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023 (%)Change on 2022
1Robeson County22.5-1.7 pts
2Scotland County21.3+0.8 pts
3Halifax County19.8-0.1 pts
3Swain County19.8-0.3 pts
5Anson County19.7+0.3 pts
6Greene County19.6-0.3 pts
7Richmond County19.5+1.9 pts
8Lenoir County19.3+1.1 pts
9Hyde County19-3.1 pts
9Washington County19+0.9 pts
11Warren County18.6-0.5 pts
12Bertie County18.3-1.3 pts
12Columbus County18.3-2.2 pts
14Jones County18.1-0.6 pts
14Tyrrell County18.1+1.9 pts
16Wilson County18-1.8 pts
17Edgecombe County17.7-0.1 pts
18Hertford County17.6-1.9 pts
19Martin County17.3-1.9 pts
19Rockingham County17.3-0.4 pts
19Rutherford County17.3-2.2 pts
19Vance County17.3-0.7 pts
23Alleghany County17.2-0.8 pts
23Northampton County17.2-0.7 pts
23Sampson County17.2-1.8 pts
26Surry County17.1-1.3 pts
26Wilkes County17.1-0.6 pts
28Burke County17+0.5 pts
28Caldwell County17-0.2 pts
28McDowell County17-5.1 pts
31Caswell County16.9-1.2 pts
32Alexander County16.8+0.9 pts
32Bladen County16.8-0.6 pts
32Chowan County16.8+0.6 pts
35Randolph County16.7-2.2 pts
36Gates County16.6-0.4 pts
37Hoke County16.5-0.6 pts
38Cleveland County16.4-3.3 pts
38Montgomery County16.4-0.2 pts
40Duplin County16.3-1.3 pts
40Yadkin County16.3-2.1 pts
42Person County16.2-2.6 pts
42Stokes County16.2-1.2 pts
42Wayne County16.2+0.7 pts
45Beaufort County16.1-1 pts
46Stanly County16-0.3 pts
47Rowan County15.9-0.4 pts
47Yancey County15.9+0.1 pts
49Avery County15.80 pts
49Davidson County15.8-0.2 pts
51Graham County15.7-2.2 pts
52Cherokee County15.6-1.5 pts
52Nash County15.6-1.5 pts
54Ashe County15.5-0.7 pts
54Lee County15.5-1.6 pts
56Granville County15.4-1.7 pts
57Harnett County15.3-0.7 pts
58Perquimans County15.2+0.8 pts
59Gaston County15-1.7 pts
60Macon County14.9+0.5 pts
61Cumberland County14.8+0.3 pts
61Franklin County14.8-1.4 pts
63Catawba County14.7-1 pts
64Mitchell County14.6-0.9 pts
65Pamlico County14.3-1.5 pts
65Pender County14.3-1.7 pts
67Jackson County14.2-0.1 pts
67Johnston County14.2-2 pts
69Craven County14-2.1 pts
69Lincoln County14-2.5 pts
71Alamance County13.9-2.5 pts
71Haywood County13.9+0.2 pts
71Madison County13.9-3.1 pts
71Pasquotank County13.9-1.4 pts
75Clay County13.8-1.5 pts
75Pitt County13.8+1.5 pts
77Davie County13.5-1.7 pts
78Forsyth County13.4-0.6 pts
79Onslow County13.30 pts
80Currituck County13.2-0.9 pts
81Camden County13.1-2.7 pts
82Guilford County13-0.9 pts
82Polk County13+3.1 pts
84Iredell County12.9-1.4 pts
85Carteret County12.7-1 pts
85Henderson County12.7-0.8 pts
87Brunswick County12.4-1.1 pts
87Cabarrus County12.4-0.1 pts
89Buncombe County12.3+1.5 pts
89Watauga County12.3+0.6 pts
91Transylvania County12+0.2 pts
92Union County11.9+0.1 pts
93New Hanover County11.6+0.1 pts
94Chatham County11.5-2.2 pts
95Dare County11.4+0.3 pts
95Moore County11.4-1.1 pts
97Mecklenburg County10.8-2.2 pts
98Durham County10.70 pts
99Wake County9.60 pts
100Orange County9.3+0.7 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Percentage of adults who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and now smoke every day or on some days. Model-based estimate for adults aged 18 and over from CDC PLACES. Crude prevalence, not age-adjusted.

US counties and cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). CDC PLACES combines Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) answers with local population data through multilevel regression and poststratification, so a county or city value is a model estimate, not a survey count. The year is the BRFSS survey year, not the release year. CDC says the method does not support tracking change in a place over time, and each annual release can change the model, so values for different years are not strictly comparable. A state is missing in a year when its BRFSS data did not meet standards (Kentucky and Pennsylvania in 2023, Florida in 2021). Connecticut counties appear as its nine planning regions from 2022; its eight former counties are not served. City values for 2021 come from the 2023 release, built on 2010 Census place boundaries; later years use 2020 boundaries. State and national values come from direct BRFSS estimates under adult_smoking_rate.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence (Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/places/

MLA 9

PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence, Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Dec. 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2025. PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties.

Harvard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025) PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence, Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/places/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_counties_in_north_carolina_2023,
  author = {{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}},
  title = {{PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence: Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.cdc.gov/places/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties. Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
TI  - PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence: Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/04
PB  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.cdc.gov/places/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/north-carolina-counties.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in North Carolina by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"adult_smoking_rate_modelled","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=adult_smoking_rate_modelled&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate?

Robeson County, with 22.5% in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which county has the lowest adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate?

Orange County, with 9.3% in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), adult cigarette smoking rate, crude prevalence. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate: other rankings

Counties in North Carolina: more rankings