Data / Rankings / Adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate / Counties in Virginia

Counties in Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate

Buchanan County had the highest adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate of 133 counties in 2021, at 24.9%. Falls Church city had the lowest, at 7.6%. The median was 16.6%. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Highest24.9Buchanan County
Lowest7.6Falls Church city
Median16.6133 counties

Top 40 counties, 2021

Buchanan County: 24.9 %Buchanan County24.9Lee County: 23.8 %Lee County23.8Emporia city: 23.6 %Emporia city23.6Dickenson County: 23.1 %Dickenson County23.1Buckingham County: 22.2 %Buckingham County22.2Hopewell city: 22.1 %Hopewell city22.1Greensville County: 22 %Greensville County22Lunenburg County: 21.3 %Lunenburg County21.3Norton city: 20.9 %Norton city20.9Nottoway County: 20.9 %Nottoway County20.9Scott County: 20.9 %Scott County20.9Wise County: 20.8 %Wise County20.8Covington city: 20.7 %Covington city20.7Danville city: 20.7 %Danville city20.7Brunswick County: 20.6 %Brunswick County20.6Grayson County: 20.6 %Grayson County20.6Henry County: 20.6 %Henry County20.6Russell County: 20.6 %Russell County20.6Smyth County: 20.6 %Smyth County20.6Martinsville city: 20.5 %Martinsville city20.5Galax city: 20.3 %Galax city20.3Bath County: 20.1 %Bath County20.1Petersburg city: 20 %Petersburg city20Richmond County: 20 %Richmond County20Charlotte County: 19.9 %Charlotte County19.9Sussex County: 19.9 %Sussex County19.9Tazewell County: 19.9 %Tazewell County19.9Roanoke city: 19.8 %Roanoke city19.8Buena Vista city: 19.7 %Buena Vista city19.7Franklin city: 19.7 %Franklin city19.7Essex County: 19.6 %Essex County19.6Carroll County: 19.5 %Carroll County19.5Page County: 19.3 %Page County19.3Bristol city: 19.2 %Bristol city19.2Halifax County: 19.1 %Halifax County19.1Pittsylvania County: 18.9 %Pittsylvania County18.9Charles City County: 18.8 %Charles City County18.8Westmoreland County: 18.8 %Westmoreland County18.8Accomack County: 18.6 %Accomack County18.6Wythe County: 18.5 %Wythe County18.5
%. 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

RankCounties2021 (%)
1Buchanan County24.9
2Lee County23.8
3Emporia city23.6
4Dickenson County23.1
5Buckingham County22.2
6Hopewell city22.1
7Greensville County22
8Lunenburg County21.3
9Norton city20.9
9Nottoway County20.9
9Scott County20.9
12Wise County20.8
13Covington city20.7
13Danville city20.7
15Brunswick County20.6
15Grayson County20.6
15Henry County20.6
15Russell County20.6
15Smyth County20.6
20Martinsville city20.5
21Galax city20.3
22Bath County20.1
23Petersburg city20
23Richmond County20
25Charlotte County19.9
25Sussex County19.9
25Tazewell County19.9
28Roanoke city19.8
29Buena Vista city19.7
29Franklin city19.7
31Essex County19.6
32Carroll County19.5
33Page County19.3
34Bristol city19.2
35Halifax County19.1
36Pittsylvania County18.9
37Charles City County18.8
37Westmoreland County18.8
39Accomack County18.6
40Wythe County18.5
41Amelia County18.4
41Bland County18.4
43Dinwiddie County18.2
44Appomattox County18.1
45Giles County18
45Mecklenburg County18
45Portsmouth city18
48Waynesboro city17.9
49Surry County17.8
50Alleghany County17.7
51Pulaski County17.6
52Campbell County17.5
52Newport News city17.5
52Patrick County17.5
55King and Queen County17.3
56Amherst County17.2
57Craig County17.1
58Louisa County17
58Prince George County17
58Shenandoah County17
58Washington County17
62Caroline County16.9
62Hampton city16.9
64Augusta County16.8
64Floyd County16.8
66Warren County16.7
67Franklin County16.6
67Prince Edward County16.6
69Madison County16.5
70Southampton County16.4
71Norfolk city16.3
72Cumberland County16.2
73King William County16.1
74Radford city16
74Richmond city16
74Staunton city16
77Culpeper County15.9
78Highland County15.8
78Northampton County15.8
78Orange County15.8
81Nelson County15.7
82Gloucester County15.6
83Harrisonburg city15.5
83Rockbridge County15.5
85Greene County15.4
85Rockingham County15.4
87Frederick County15.3
88Suffolk city15.2
89Middlesex County15.1
89Winchester city15.1
91Isle of Wight County15
92Colonial Heights city14.9
93Botetourt County14.8
94Manassas Park city14.7
95Bedford County14.5
96Lynchburg city14.4
96Salem city14.4
98King George County14.3
99Chesapeake city14.2
99Northumberland County14.2
101Lancaster County14.1
102Powhatan County14
103New Kent County13.9
104Rappahannock County13.8
105Spotsylvania County13.6
106Manassas city13.5
106Montgomery County13.5
106Roanoke County13.5
106Virginia Beach city13.5
110Charlottesville city13.4
110Clarke County13.4
110Mathews County13.4
113Henrico County13.2
114Chesterfield County13.1
114Fluvanna County13.1
116Fredericksburg city12.8
117Fauquier County12.7
118Hanover County12.3
118Poquoson city12.3
120Stafford County12
121Prince William County11.9
122Goochland County11.7
123Williamsburg city11.2
124Lexington city11
124York County11
126James City County10.8
127Albemarle County10.3
127Alexandria city10.3
129Fairfax city10.1
130Loudoun County9
131Fairfax County8.3
132Arlington County8.2
133Falls Church city7.6

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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021) [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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Dec. 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/virginia-counties?period=2021. 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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/virginia-counties?period=2021.

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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/places/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/virginia-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_counties_in_virginia_by_2021,
  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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021}},
  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/virginia-counties?period=2021. 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 Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate, 2021
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/virginia-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-smoking-rate-county-estimate/virginia-counties?period=2021.
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  -
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Rank Counties in Virginia by adult cigarette smoking rate, local model estimate using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

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

Buchanan County, with 24.9% in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Falls Church city, with 7.6% in 2021.

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 Virginia: more rankings