Young Adult Vaping Statistics & Data to Know in 2026

Vaping in 2026 looks nothing like it did five years ago. The latest young adult vaping statistics tell a complex story: youth e-cigarette use just hit its lowest level in over a decade. But daily use among young people who still vape has nearly doubled, quit attempts are failing more often, and young adults ages 18 to 24 now lead every other age group in the U.S. for e-cigarette use.

Every stat on this page comes from a primary source. That includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics, the FDA, the Truth Initiative, JAMA Network Open, and peer-reviewed research published in Tobacco Use Insights and Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Every number is cited inline with a direct link to its source.

The data is grouped into nine areas. Overall prevalence among young adults, year-over-year trends, daily use and nicotine dependence, flavors and devices, youth vaping under 18, risk perceptions, quit intentions, vaping cessation methods and their effectiveness, and what research says about nicotine-free vapes.

Young Adult Vaping Prevalence

Young adults ages 18 to 24 are the heaviest e-cigarette users in the country. Federal data backs it up, and the numbers have held steady across national surveys.

In 2023, 15.5% of adults ages 21 to 24 were current e-cigarette users. That's the highest rate of any adult age group, per the National Center for Health Statistics [6]. Roughly 1 in 6 adults in that age range used e-cigarettes that year [6]. Among adults ages 18 to 20, current use sat at 10.3% [6].

An earlier NCHS analysis of 2021 National Health Interview Survey data put current use at 11.0% among adults ages 18 to 24. Men landed at 11.6% and women at 10.3% [5]. Of that group, 9.2% used e-cigarettes only, and 1.8% used both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes [5].

The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study put regular use at 14.5% among adults ages 18 to 24. Researchers flagged something striking. This group now contains more never-smokers than former cigarette smokers [8]. Of young adults who regularly vape, 56% never regularly smoked cigarettes [8].

Peer-reviewed research in Tobacco Use Insights found that 25.8% of young adults ages 18 to 24 have ever used an e-cigarette. That makes them the largest consumer group in the country [2]. A 2018 cross-sectional study of 3,754 college students put lifetime use at 55.2%, with 23.2% current users [2].

Vaping Trends Over Time

Young adult vaping has climbed sharply since 2019, even as youth use declined. The curve points to a generational shift in nicotine use.

E-cigarette use among adults ages 21 to 24 jumped from 10.1% in 2019 to 15.5% in 2023. That's a more than 50% rise in four years [6]. Among adults ages 18 to 20, current use moved from 8.1% to 10.3% over the same period [6].

Overall U.S. adult e-cigarette use grew from 4.5% in 2019 to 6.5% in 2023 [6]. Men ages 18 and older rose from 5.5% to 7.6%, and women rose from 3.5% to 5.5% [6].

National Monitoring the Future data shows college student vaping climbed from 6% in 2017 to 18.6% in 2020. That's a more than threefold jump in three years [2]. By 2022, 22.8% of adults ages 23 to 24 were current e-cigarette users, per Truth Initiative analysis of Monitoring the Future data [4].

Disposable e-cigarettes drove much of the recent surge. Between 2019 and 2023, disposable e-cigarette sales rose more than 500% in the United States [16]. Disposables also became the dominant device type among current youth users at 55.6% in 2024 [1].

Daily Use and Nicotine Dependence

Daily use is climbing fast among the young people who keep vaping. Researchers call this a hardening effect. Even as overall numbers fall, the remaining users show stronger addiction signals.

A November 2025 study in JAMA Network Open analyzed 115,191 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. Among youth who reported any past-30-day vaping, the share who vaped daily rose from 15.4% in 2020 to 28.8% in 2024. That's nearly double [7]. Among rural youth, daily vaping jumped even harder, from 16.4% to 41.8% in the same window [7].

Failed quit attempts rose at the same pace. Among daily youth vapers, the share who tried and failed to quit increased from 28.2% in 2020 to 53% in 2024 [7]. More than half of daily users failed to quit on their own.

The CDC's 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 38.4% of current youth e-cigarette users vaped on 20 or more of the past 30 days, and 26.3% used e-cigarettes daily [1]. Truth Initiative noted that nearly 40% of current youth vapers, more than 620,000 teens, show signs of persistent nicotine addiction [14].

Among college-age current users, peer-reviewed research found 11.2% used daily and 12.0% used some days, and 15.1% of current e-cigarette users also currently smoked traditional cigarettes [2].

Flavors, Devices, and Product Types

Flavor remains the dominant driver of youth vaping. The product mix has also shifted dramatically toward disposable devices.

Of current youth e-cigarette users in 2024, 87.6% used flavored e-cigarettes [1]. Fruit flavors topped the list at 62.8%, followed by candy, desserts, or other sweets at 33.3% and mint at 25.1% [13].

Disposable devices were the most common device type at 55.6%, followed by prefilled pods or cartridges at 15.6% and tanks or mods at 7.0% [1].

Top youth e-cigarette brands in 2024 were Elf Bar at 36.1% (down from 56.7% in 2023), Breeze at 19.9%, Mr. Fog at 15.8%, Vuse at 13.7%, and JUUL at 12.6% [13].

Nicotine pouches, often used alongside or as substitutes for vapes, were used by 1.8% of middle and high school students in 2024, roughly 500,000 students, with daily use among pouch users at 22.4% [13]. Among pouch users, 85.6% used flavored products, led by mint at 53.3%, fruit at 22.4%, and menthol at 19.3% [13].

Youth Vaping Under 18

Young adult vaping rose, but youth vaping under 18 fell to its lowest level since the federal government started tracking it.

In 2024, 1.63 million U.S. middle and high school students (5.9%) reported current e-cigarette use, down from 2.13 million (7.7%) in 2023 [13]. That includes 1.21 million high school students (7.8%) and 410,000 middle school students (3.5%) [1].

The 2024 figure is about one-third of the 2019 peak of more than five million youth users [13]. Trends by grade show similar drops. Past-year vaping among 12th graders was 21.0% in 2024 (down from 23.2% in 2023). 10th graders sat at 15.4% (down from 17.6%), and 8th graders at 9.6% (down from 11.4%) [15].

Past 30-day vaping in 2024 was 15.0% among 12th graders, 9.8% among 10th graders, and 5.7% among 8th graders [15]. Daily vaping among 12th graders was 5.2%, down from 5.8% the year prior [15].

Racial and ethnic differences persist among youth users. Current use ranged from 2.3% among Asian students to 11.5% among American Indian and Alaska Native students in 2024 [1].

How Young Adults Perceive Vaping Risks

Young adult e-cigarette users and non-users hold sharply different beliefs about vaping safety, and those beliefs predict use behavior.

In a peer-reviewed survey published in Tobacco Use Insights, current college-age e-cigarette users were significantly less likely than never-users to associate vaping with serious health harms [2]. Only 36.0% of current users believed vaping could cause cancer compared to 61.2% of never users, a statistically significant gap [2].

Beliefs about lung damage followed the same pattern. 40.7% of current users thought vaping causes lung damage versus 65.8% of never users [2]. For asthma, the split was 34.4% (current) versus 59.0% (never) [2].

The one area where current and never users mostly agreed was addiction. Both groups rated e-cigarettes as addictive on a 6-point scale, with no statistically significant difference between them [2]. Both groups agreed on addictiveness, but current users still rated overall safety much higher than never users.

Quit Intentions Among Young Adults

Most young adult nicotine users want to stop. The percentage saying so has risen sharply in the past two years.

A 2026 Truth Initiative survey found that 67% of young adult nicotine users ages 18 to 24 plan to quit in the new year, up from 48% the year before [10]. 62% of 18 to 24-year-olds who use nicotine want to quit to improve their physical or mental health [10].

Among current youth e-cigarette users surveyed by the CDC, 63.9% wanted to quit and 67.4% attempted to quit in the past year [1].

Quitting appears to come with mental health upside. Truth Initiative data shows that 90% of young people who quit vaping said they felt less stressed, anxious, or depressed afterward [10].

Alternative Quitting Methods and Their Effectiveness

When young adults try to quit, the method they reach for is rarely an FDA-approved cessation aid. A 2025 JAMA Network Open study tracked exactly which methods young adults use.

The study, published May 29, 2025, analyzed 10,310 young adults ages 18 to 24, of whom 30.6% had used electronic nicotine products in the past 12 months [9]. Of those users, 855 attempted to quit during the survey period [9].

Social support from family and friends was the most commonly used quit method at 29.8% [9]. Product substitution came in at 11.0%, behavioral support at 9.6%, smartphone or tablet apps at 8.9%, nicotine replacement therapy at 5.0%, and prescription medications at just 1.7% [9].

Among young adults who substituted other products, 4.8% switched to nicotine pouches, 3.6% to cigarettes, and 1.9% to other oral tobacco [9]. Among NRT users, gum (2.4%), patches (2.0%), and lozenges (0.8%) were the most common forms [9].

Quit success rates were low. Only 20% of young adults who attempted to quit reported no electronic nicotine product use in the past 30 days. Put another way, 80% of quit attempts failed [9]. Truth Initiative research separately notes that quitting unassisted leads to relapse 95% of the time [11].

Evidence-based interventions perform better. A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that text-message cessation programs increased the odds of quitting by up to 40% [11]. Combining behavioral support with nicotine replacement therapy roughly doubles the chances of quitting compared to either approach alone [11].

Nicotine-Free Vape Statistics

Research on nicotine-free vapes among young people is limited, but several peer-reviewed studies offer useful data.

A longitudinal study of 2,018 adolescents (mean baseline age 14.2) in Nicotine & Tobacco Research tracked what teens actually vape. Among those who had vaped in the past 12 months at baseline, 66.1% used only nicotine-free vapes, 22.3% used nicotine-containing vapes, and 11.6% were unsure of the nicotine content [12].

Transition patterns leaned toward quitting, not stepping up. Nicotine-free vapers were more likely to stop vaping than to add nicotine. Of adolescents who used nicotine-free vapes at baseline, 53.9% became non-users by the next survey wave. 14.3% moved to nicotine vaping, and 29.9% stayed nicotine-free [12]. By the third wave, 50.0% of prior nicotine-free vapers had become non-users and 16.7% had moved to nicotine [12].

Mental health and behavioral measures looked different too. Nicotine vapers scored higher on conduct problems (mean 3.67 vs 2.17) and depression symptoms (mean 11.38 vs 6.95) than nicotine-free vapers [12]. Past 30-day cigarette use was 33% among nicotine vapers compared to 9% among nicotine-free vapers [12].

Among young adults who attempted to quit nicotine vaping in the JAMA Network Open study, 11.0% used product substitution. That meant nicotine pouches, alternative nicotine products, or other oral tobacco. Substitution was more common than NRT, smartphone apps, behavioral support, or prescription medications combined [9]. Taken together, these young adult vaping statistics show a generation using less nicotine overall, with quit intent rising sharply, daily use concentrating among the heaviest users, and nicotine-free products playing a larger role in how young people approach vaping.

Sources

1. [1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "E-Cigarette Use Among Youth." Smoking and Tobacco Use, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 17 Oct. 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/e-cigarettes/youth.html.

2. [2] Kelsh, Sarah, et al. "Young Adults' Electronic Cigarette Use and Perceptions of Risk." Tobacco Use Insights, vol. 16, 7 Mar. 2023, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9996725/.

3. [3] University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. "Vaping Percentages." UW-CTRI, n.d., https://ctri.wisc.edu/providers/e-cigs-and-vaping/vaping-percentages/.

4. [4] Truth Initiative. "E-cigarettes: Facts, Stats and Regulations." Truth Initiative, 16 Oct. 2024, https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/e-cigarettes-facts-stats-and-regulations.

5. [5] Kramarow, Ellen A., and Nazik Elgaddal. "Current Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adults Aged 18 and Over: United States, 2021." NCHS Data Brief No. 475, National Center for Health Statistics, July 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db475.htm.

6. [6] Vahratian, Anjel, et al. "Electronic Cigarette Use Among U.S. Adults, 2019-2023." NCHS Data Brief No. 524, National Center for Health Statistics, Jan. 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db524.htm.

7. [7] Keck School of Medicine of USC. "Among Youth Who Vape, USC Study Finds Rise in Daily Use and Difficulty Quitting." Keck News, University of Southern California, 3 Nov. 2025, https://keck.usc.edu/news/among-youth-who-vape-usc-study-finds-rise-in-daily-use-and-difficulty-quitting/.

8. [8] Medical University of South Carolina. "National Survey Indicates More Young Adults Begin Tobacco Use With Vaping, Not Cigarettes." MUSC Content Hub, 13 Nov. 2023, https://www.musc.edu/content-hub/news/2023/11/13/national-survey-indicates-more-young-adults-begin-tobacco-use-with-vaping-not-cigarettes.

9. [9] Williams, Bradley S., et al. "Methods for Vaping Cessation Among Young Adults in Southern California." JAMA Network Open, vol. 8, no. 5, 29 May 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12123465/.

10. [10] Truth Initiative. "Most Young Adult Nicotine Users Want to Quit in 2026." Truth Initiative, 1 Jan. 2026, https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/quitting-smoking-vaping/most-young-adult-nicotine-users-want-quit-2026.

11. [11] Truth Initiative. "How Nicotine Replacement Therapy Can Help Young Adults Quit Nicotine for Good." Truth Initiative, 1 Jan. 2026, https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/quitting-smoking-vaping/how-nicotine-replacement-therapy-can-help-young-adults.

12. [12] Tokle, Rikke, Geir Scott Brunborg, and Tord Finne Vedoy. "Adolescents' Use of Nicotine-Free and Nicotine E-Cigarettes: A Longitudinal Study of Vaping Transitions and Vaper Characteristics." Nicotine & Tobacco Research, vol. 24, no. 3, 21 Sept. 2021, pp. 400-407, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8842395/.

13. [13] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Youth E-Cigarette Use Drops to Lowest Level in a Decade." CDC Newsroom, 5 Sept. 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0905-youth-ecigarette.html.

14. [14] Truth Initiative. "Significant Drop in Youth E-Cigarette Use Marks Progress, But Nearly 40% of Teens Who Vape Frequently Remain at High Risk for Nicotine Addiction." Truth Initiative, 5 Sept. 2024, https://truthinitiative.org/press/press-release/significant-drop-youth-e-cigarette-use-marks-progress-nearly-40-teens-who-vape.

15. [15] Truth Initiative. "2024 Monitoring the Future Survey Shows Persistent Nicotine Dependence Despite Meaningful Gains in Reducing Youth E-Cigarette Use." Truth Initiative, 19 Dec. 2024, https://truthinitiative.org/press/press-release/2024-monitoring-future-survey-shows-persistent-nicotine-dependence-despite.

16. [16] CDC Foundation, Truth Initiative, et al. "As National Sales of E-Cigarettes Climb, Report Shows That State Restrictions on Flavored Products Are Critical to Protect Young People." CDC Foundation, 21 Nov. 2024, https://www.cdcfoundation.org/pr/2024/Monitoring-E-Cigarette-Trends-in-the-United-States-Report.