States Have Generated Nearly $25 Billion In Marijuana Tax Revenue Since First Markets Opened, New Report Finds

States have generated nearly $25 billion in revenue from recreational cannabis since the first sales started over a decade ago, according to a new report from a leading advocacy group.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) also said that in 2024 alone, states collected $4.4 billion in recreational cannabis tax revenue—the most ever garnered in a single year. Seven states took in over $200 million each, with four of those seeing more than $500 million in revenue and one exceeding $1 billion.

“At a time when federal funding cuts are putting pressure on states’ budgets, adult-use cannabis taxes are bringing billions of dollars into states’ coffers,” Lauren Daly, interim executive director at MPP, said in a press release.

“Legal adult-use markets have also contributed to significant job growth, creating thousands of new employment and small business opportunities,” she said. “While economic growth isn’t the primary reason for legalizing adult-use cannabis, it is undeniably a great benefit.”

The new adult-use-focused analysis does not account for additional revenue that states have collected from medical marijuana sales.

MPP has been consistently tracking state cannabis tax data, and this latest report shows that states generated about $200 million more in 2024 compared to 2023.

“Cannabis prohibition destroys lives by tearing apart families and creating life-altering criminal records that stand in the way of jobs, housing, and an education,” Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at MPP, said. “Cannabis legalization dramatically reduces the number of arrests and wasted law enforcement resources, while generating billions of dollars in new revenue that can improve residents’ wellbeing.”

Here are the 2024 state-by-state totals:

• Alaska: $26,399,163
• Arizona: $253,061,173
• California: $1,009,294,380
• Colorado: $237,436,232
• Connecticut: $32,773,606
• Illinois: $577,412,683
• Maine: $42,201,086
• Maryland: $72,934,285
• Massachusetts: $282,963,631
• Michigan: $523,552,765
• Missouri: $130,824,785
• Montana: $55,521,165
• Nevada: $170,977,715
• New Jersey: $64,503,651
• New Mexico: $76,506,067
• New York: approximately $135,000,000
• Rhode Island: $15,995,635
• Ohio: $16,340,096
• Oregon: $153,795,374
• Washington State: $516,558,150
• Vermont: $27,842,857
• Overall Total: approximately $4,421,894,498

This is the first time Ohio tax revenue data has been included in MPP’s report, as the market launched last year following voter approval of a legalization ballot initiative in November 2023. Two other states also legalized cannabis recently—Delaware and Minnesota—but sales have not yet launched.

“With states facing an uncertain fiscal landscape, strained budgets, and a possible economic downturn, legalizing and taxing cannabis for adults helps lessen the pain,” the report says. “Taxes on a single product cannot solve all of a state’s financial challenges. But it helps. In several states, cannabis tax revenue brings in more than alcohol taxes. In states with mature markets, adult-use cannabis taxes often amount to 0.25 percent to 1.5 percent of the entire state budget.”

“Adult-use cannabis legalization also frees up law enforcement resources to focus on crimes with victims and creates thousands of new jobs. It is important to note that the financial impact of legalizing and regulating cannabis for adult use is one of the many benefits of legalization. In states that are home to 54 percent of the U.S. population, adults are now free to choose to use cannabis to relax or as an over-the-counter medicine for sleep, pain, and other ailments. Since states began legalizing cannabis, hundreds of thousands of individuals have been spared traumatic arrests, possible incarceration, and criminal records that shut the door of opportunity.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau has also been tracking cannabis tax revenue in legal states, and it reported last December that those states raked in more than $9.7 billion in marijuana tax revenue since the middle of 2021. That’s up nearly $1 billion since the agency last updated its cannabis revenue tracker last September.

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Some states have recently seen milestones in marijuana sales numbers—including New York, which saw the number of legal stores nearly triple in 2024, fueling total sales for the year of $869 million.

California officials earlier this month awarded another round of community reinvestment grants to nonprofits and local health departments, with over $52 million funded by marijuana tax revenue.

Michigan officials recently announced that they’re disbursing nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue to over 300 cities and tribes across the state thanks to the state’s adult-use legalization law. That’s part of the overall $331 million in tax dollars Michigan is distributing across various initiatives.

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