For every smoking-related death, another 20 people suffer with a smoking-related disease.
While smoking-related deaths among men have declined in recent decades, they are still rising among women.
Most smoking-related deaths are caused by cardiovascular problems, not lung cancer.
The surgeon general of the United States has said that 400,000 smoking-related deaths occur each year.
In a country where 70 percent of men smoke, there are now 2,000 smoking-related deaths a day, the researchers said.
That is because smoking-related deaths usually lag several decades or more behind the start of the habit.
For every state, the annual number of smoking-related deaths was higher among males than females (Table 1).
Premature death from heart disease outweighs all other causes of smoking-related death put together.
The state reported 176 smoking-related deaths for every 100,000 residents in 1985, the Atlanta-based agency said.
Utah, with the nation's lowest smoking-related death rate, reported only 45 smoking-related deaths for every 100,00 people in 1985, the report said.