Cigarette Prices in the United States (2026)
⚠️ Customs Rules and Transport Limits
Travellers to the United States may generally bring in about 200 cigarettes (one carton) duty-free for personal use.
🌍 Overview
| Brands | Average Price | Reliability |
|---|---|---|
| Marlboro | 9.57 € ($10.40) | Medium reliability |
| Winston | 7.36 € ($8.00) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Camel | 8.05 € ($8.75) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Lucky Strike | 8.11 € ($8.81) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Chesterfield | 7.99 € ($8.69) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Pall Mall | 6.99 € ($7.60) | Low reliability · estimate |
| American Spirit | 10.12 € ($11.00) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Newport | 9.57 € ($10.40) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Maverick | 8.99 € ($9.77) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Montego | 7.43 € ($8.08) | Low reliability · estimate |
| Eagle 20's | 7.42 € ($8.07) | Low reliability · estimate |
High reliability: official primary source or verifiable trade press. Medium: price rebuilt from confirmed data points, or surveyed at a retailer or in the press. Low: extrapolated. "Estimate": price not surveyed for this brand, calculated from that of Marlboro, the country's reference brand.
Average pack price over time
Average across all brands we track in this country, by year.
📋 Tobacco Regulation & Policy
💰 Tax regime
A federal excise tax of $1.01 per pack has applied since April 2009, on top of which each state levies its own excise, ranging from $0.17 in Missouri to $5.35 in New York (an average of about $1.93 per pack in 2024), plus state and local sales taxes. Combined federal and state taxes represent roughly 30 to 45% of the retail price depending on the state.
📈 Price policy
There is no government price-setting. Altria (Philip Morris USA) and other manufacturers raise their list prices two to three times a year, typically by 10 to 15 cents per pack each round and most recently across most brands in April 2026, pricing ahead of inflation to offset falling volumes, while state legislatures periodically raise state excise taxes.
At the statutory minimum wage, a pack of Marlboro takes 86 minutes of work in the United States. Compare with other countries
🏛️ Key legislative milestones
The Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and the major manufacturers triggered an immediate jump in wholesale prices of about 45 cents per pack.
The federal excise tax was raised from $0.39 to $1.01 per pack under CHIPRA, and the Tobacco Control Act granted the FDA authority over tobacco.
The federal "Tobacco 21" law raised the minimum purchase age for tobacco products to 21 nationwide.
California's ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco took effect, and the FDA proposed a national menthol ban, which was later shelved in 2024.
New York raised its state cigarette tax to $5.35 per pack, the highest in the nation.
📰 United States: news and guides
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Cite this data
Free to reuse with credit to the source.
Schmitt, B. (2026). Cigarette Prices in the United States (2026). cigprices.com. https://cigprices.com/en/pays/etats-unis (data last updated 10 August 2026). License CC BY 4.0.
Data & sources
Last updated :
Methodology : Marlboro is the reference brand in each country: its price is rebuilt from data points confirmed by public sources, then interpolated between them. Unless stated otherwise, other brands are not surveyed: their price is calculated from Marlboro's by a fixed ratio, so they are estimates.
Main sources (8)
- monsieurvintage.com (FR, Marlboro, 2000-2025, DGDDI)
- mylasertabac.com (EU, 2025-11)
- travel-europe.info (EU, 2026)
- andorratools.com (AD, 2026)
- ADII, Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects (MA, 2025)
- WHO Global Tobacco Report 2015 (TN, Marlboro)
- Statista (ES, Marlboro, 2007-2022)
- ONS, RPI timeseries CZMP (UK)
Provided for informational purposes only. Verify with official sources for any critical use.