Which U.S. States Still Allow Indoor Smoking?

Twenty-two states still allow indoor smoking in at least some venues, while 28 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban it in virtually all enclosed workplaces, restaurants, and bars.¹ The states that allow indoor smoking fall into two groups: those that ban it in most places but exempt bars, casinos, or age-restricted businesses, and a smaller group with little or no statewide restriction at all.

The 22 States That Still Allow Indoor Smoking

Where indoor smoking remains legal, the law almost always draws a line around specific venue types. Here is how the 22 states break down.

Partial Statewide Bans with Carve-Outs

Florida prohibits smoking in all enclosed workplaces and restaurants but allows it in standalone bars that don’t admit or employ anyone under 18.¹ Nevada bans smoking in restaurants and most workplaces but exempts casinos, bars that exclude anyone under 21, strip clubs, brothels, and retail tobacco stores. Idaho, Indiana, and Louisiana follow a similar pattern, with partial bans and exceptions for bars, casinos, or age-restricted businesses.

Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee restrict smoking in restaurants and government buildings but allow it in bars, certain private businesses, or venues with designated ventilation systems. Alaska’s law is unusual: it bans smoking in all enclosed workplaces, but individual municipalities can opt out through a voter referendum, so coverage shifts city by city.

Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Virginia sit in a middle zone, with partial restrictions that leave meaningful gaps in coverage.

States With No Comprehensive Statewide Ban

A smaller group has little or no state-level restriction. Wyoming has no state law banning smoking in any indoor setting. Texas has no statewide ban either, leaving the question to cities and counties; as of recent data, only about 99 of the state’s 1,220 municipalities have adopted comprehensive local smoke-free ordinances. Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, and West Virginia have only limited statewide restrictions, often amounting to rules about designated smoking areas rather than outright bans.

Which Venues Keep the Exemption

Even in states with broad bans, the law frequently exempts the same handful of venue types. If you want to know whether smoking is legal in a specific place, these are the categories to check.

Casinos and Gaming Floors

Casino floors are the single biggest category of indoor smoking exemption in the United States. States with commercial casino industries, including Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana, and Louisiana, frequently exempt gaming floors from their clean air laws. Many casinos have gone smoke-free voluntarily, but where the exemption exists, state law does not require it.

Private Membership Clubs

Fraternal organizations, veterans’ posts, and similar private clubs often secure exemptions on the theory that these are private rather than public spaces. Some states require a member vote to maintain the smoking allowance, and many require the club to be genuinely private, with no public access and no food service open to nonmembers.

Cigar Bars and Tobacco Retail Stores

Cigar bars, hookah lounges, and retail tobacco shops are exempted in the majority of states that have indoor smoking laws, because these businesses exist specifically for on-premises tobacco use. The exemption usually comes with conditions: a minimum share of revenue from tobacco products, adults-only entry, and in some states posted warning signs at every entrance.

Hotel and Motel Rooms

Only eight states require every hotel and motel guest room to be 100 percent smoke-free: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Elsewhere, hotels can set aside a portion of rooms for smoking, though many national chains have eliminated smoking rooms across their portfolios regardless of what state law allows.

The 28 States With Comprehensive Bans

For reference, these states prohibit smoking in all enclosed workplaces, restaurants, and bars under statewide law: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.¹ The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have equivalent laws. Even in these states, you may encounter indoor smoking at standalone cigar lounges, tobacco retail shops, or certain private clubs where specific exemptions were written into the law.

Federal Rules That Apply Everywhere

Some places are smoke-free regardless of what the state allows, because federal law reaches them directly.

Smoking on passenger flights, including the use of e-cigarettes, has been illegal under federal law for decades. The ban covers all scheduled and nonscheduled passenger flights in both domestic and foreign air transportation.²

An executive order issued in 1997 banned smoking in all interior space owned, rented, or leased by the executive branch of the federal government, and in outdoor areas near air intake ducts.³ Agencies may keep enclosed, separately ventilated designated smoking areas, but employees cannot be required to enter those areas while smoking is underway. On properties controlled by the General Services Administration, smoking is banned within 25 feet of any doorway.⁴

Since July 2018, all public housing agencies have been required to prohibit smoking inside every living unit, hallway, community room, administrative office, and outdoor area within 25 feet of public housing buildings.⁵ The rule covers cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and hookahs, but not e-cigarettes. It applies to conventional public housing, including scattered-site and single-family properties, but not to Section 8 voucher housing or mixed-finance projects.

Federal regulation also prohibits smoking on any motor vehicle carrying passengers in scheduled interstate service.⁶ Charter buses are exempt.

E-Cigarettes Are a Separate Question

Indoor smoking bans don’t automatically cover vaping. Whether e-cigarettes fall under a state’s clean air law depends on how that law defines “smoking.” As of late 2024, 20 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws that explicitly include e-cigarettes: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.⁷ In the rest of the country, indoor vaping may be legal in places where cigarette smoking is banned, or it may be restricted by local ordinance even when the state statute is silent.

Local Laws Can Go Further, Unless the State Blocks Them

State law is often just the floor. Twenty-seven states explicitly allow cities and counties to adopt smoking restrictions stricter than the state standard.⁸ A city in one of those states can ban smoking in bars even if the state allows it, or extend an indoor ban to cover outdoor patios.

The reverse also happens. As of mid-2024, 12 states had laws or court decisions that prevent local governments from restricting smoking in workplaces, restaurants, or bars beyond what state law requires.⁸ Florida’s clean air act, for example, includes an express preemption clause that prevents any municipality or county from passing its own smoking ordinance. In states that combine a weak statewide law with preemption, no city council can close the gap.

Tribal Land Is Governed Separately

Federally recognized tribal nations set their own indoor smoking policies, independent of the surrounding state.⁹ This matters most for tribal casinos, which are among the largest indoor venues in many regions. Some have gone completely smoke-free; others continue to allow smoking on the gaming floor. The decision rests with the tribal government, and federal tobacco regulation cannot be enforced in Indian Country without the tribe’s express written consent.

1
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System – Legislation
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S. Code 41706 – Prohibitions Against Smoking on Passenger Flights
3
GovInfo. Executive Order 13058 – Protecting Federal Employees and the Public From Exposure to Tobacco Smoke in the Federal Workplace
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Are the Restrictions on Smoking for Outside Areas Around Federal Buildings
5
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 965 Subpart G – Smoke-Free Public Housing
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 374.201 – Prohibition Against Smoking on Interstate Passenger-Carrying Motor Vehicles
7
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System E-Cigarette Fact Sheet
8
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STATE System Preemption Fact Sheet
9
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Engagement With American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments