All the News That’s Fit: The price of smoking, the rarest blood, and perfect pitch

For The Union-Tribune

Where there’s smoke, it’s dire

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, responsible for 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. annually. A longtime smoking habit is estimated to reduce average life expectancy by at least 10 years.

But smoking costs more than lives. WalletHub, a personal finance company, recently released a report on the economic costs of smoking: more than $600 billion nationally. The company broke it down by state (plus Washington, D.C.).

The five states with the highest smoking costs:

1. District of Columbia

2. Maryland

3. New York

4. Connecticut

5. Rhode Island

And the five states with the lowest:

47. Tennessee

48. Alabama

49. Missouri

50. North Carolina

51. Mississippi

Some other burning stats:

• The average out-of-pocket cost per smoker is $179,745 over a lifetime. Smokers in New York will pay the most, shelling out 1.8 times more than smokers in North Carolina, who pay the least.

• Each smoker will lose an average of $675,601 income over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will lose the most income — 1.9 times more than in Mississippi, where smokers will lose the least income.

• Each smoker will incur an average of $232,498 in smoking-related health care costs over a lifetime. Smokers in the District of Columbia will pay the highest amount — 2.9 times more than in Tennessee, where smoker...