Despite scientific evidence that smoking is highly addictive, little information is available on the prevalence of nicotine dependence among African American smokers. The primary objective of this study was to examine the associations between demographic variables, socioeconomic status, self reported smoking history and the level of nicotine dependence among African American smokers. This study was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of data collected during a randomized clinical trial from African American participants (n=206). The results showed that age of smokers, number of years of regular smoking, low education level and negative perception of ability to quit smoking were associated with high nicotine dependence. The multivariate analysis showed that those with negative perception of their ability to quit smoking had greater odds of having high nicotine dependence. The findings suggested that tailored interventions should include components that increase self efficacy among African American smokers depending on the level of nicotine dependence.