United States: 243,700 jobs in the legal cannabis industry

The annual cannabis jobs report from Leafly counted 243,700 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in the US legal cannabis industry in January 2020.

These 243,700 jobs represent an increase of 15% over 2019. Over the past 12 months, the U.S. cannabis industry has created 33,700 new jobs nationwide, making it the fastest-growing industry in America.

The biggest increases were in Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Illinois: 10,226 jobs for Massachusetts (medical and recreational) and 7,300 for Oklahoma and its medical industry alone.

Florida also saw strong growth in 2019. With over 300,000 registered patients, Florida now has the largest number of medical consumers in the United States. This increase in the number of patients, as well as the start of dried flower sales, These factors led to a 93% increase in total sales.

It also does not include jobs created by the recent change in the legal status of CBD. Like the CBD is not regulated like state-licensed cannabis, there are no data available to account for jobs.

Double-digit growth every year

The cannabis industry saw its first growing pains in 2019. 2018, an exuberant year, gave way to the reality of a slow-growth canadian market, the reduction of investment capital, to a national health crisis linked to vaper products from the black market and redundancies in some of the largest companies industry.

These setbacks were nevertheless offset by huge growth in new markets such as Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Florida.

Here's how last year's job growth compares with previous years.

Major employers: California and Colorado

Despite the many layoffs, California remains the largest legal cannabis employer in the United States. Colorado is nevertheless the state with the most cannabis employees relative to its population, with one job for every 165 inhabitants, compared with one job for every 980 inhabitants in California.

Colorado and Washington both recorded strong growth of 8% six years after opening their retail stores. Legal stores thus continue to draw customers away from illicit sellers. Both states legalized cannabis in 2012. Colorado's industry nonetheless has nearly 10,000 more jobs than Washington, even though Washington has nearly 2 million more residents.

Turbulence in California and Michigan

California and Michigan, two of the country's largest cannabis markets, have had a turbulent 2019 in terms of employment.

In California, in addition to the aforementioned redundancies, the sunset of the caregiver law has shifted around 8,000 jobs from legal to non-legal status.

Similarly, Michigan's new regulatory system has pushed hundreds of dispensaries from legal to illegal status. These jobs are expected to return over the next 24 months as both states issue more licenses and return these jobs to legal status.

You can read the Leafly Jobs Report 2020 here.