States collected $3.55 billion in cannabis taxes, and Washington collects ten times more than Minnesota
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Thirty states and the District of Columbia collected an estimated $3.55 billion in cannabis excise taxes between July 2025 and June 2026, the Census Bureau reported September 10. That is up from $3.06 billion in fiscal 2022, the first year the bureau tracked the category, a rise of about 16 percent.
The count of states levying the tax has grown faster than the money. When the bureau added cannabis to its Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue in 2021, 19 states and the District collected. Eleven more have joined since, most recently Alabama, where medical-only sales began May 20, 2026.
The per-resident spread is enormous
Spread across the whole country, $3.55 billion works out to about $10.60 per resident. The states that collect it are nowhere near that figure.
| State | Per resident | Structure | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | Over $50 | 37% retail excise | 8,001,020 |
| Montana | Over $50 | 20% retail excise | 1,144,694 |
| Alaska | Over $30 | $50 per ounce at cultivation, no retail tax | 737,270 |
| Minnesota | $5.91 | 15% retail excise, raised from 10% | 5,830,405 |
Washington's rate is the highest in the country at 37 percent, and at more than $50 a resident across 8 million people the state collects north of $400 million a year. Montana reaches the same per-resident figure on a 20 percent rate and about 1.1 million people, so roughly $57 million.
Alaska gets past $30 a resident without any retail excise tax at all. It taxes cannabis once, at $50 per ounce, when growers transfer it to a licensed business. The whole burden sits at the top of the supply chain.
Minnesota shows what a market looks like while it is still filling in. The state collected $34.44 million in fiscal 2026 against $16.57 million the year before, a doubling, after issuing 324 new business licenses in 2025 and raising its rate from 10 percent to 15 percent. Per resident that is $5.91, up from $2.84, and still a tenth of Washington's.
California showed the limits of raising rates
The one year total revenue fell was fiscal 2023, and it fell because of California. The state had levied both a 15 percent retail excise tax and a cultivation tax, and it dropped the cultivation tax on July 1, 2022 to bring prices down and pull buyers away from the illegal market.
California's cannabis revenue went from $878.56 million in fiscal 2022 to $528.23 million in fiscal 2023, a drop of about 40 percent, and that single change was large enough to pull the national total down with it. Totals climbed again afterward as more states entered.
The tension is the same in every state that has tried this. Tax too little and the revenue is not worth the regulatory apparatus, while taxing too much and buyers stay with the unlicensed sellers who pay no taxes. States have experimented with excise taxes at cultivation, at wholesale, and at retail, and some vary the retail rate by product weight, THC content, or form, taxing flower differently from vapor products.
Recreational states collect more per resident than medical-only states, which remain more common across the South. Delaware began collecting on August 1, 2025 at 15 percent and is still ramping as licensed businesses open.
The bureau publishes these figures quarterly through its Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue, which estimates state and local tax revenue nationally and by state. Cannabis remains illegal under federal law throughout.
Sources
Revenue totals, state entry dates, tax rates, and the per-capita figures for Washington, Montana, and Alaska are from Rob Simon, "Thirty States and the District of Columbia Collected Nearly $3.6 Billion in Estimated Cannabis Excise Tax Revenues Between July 2025 and June 2026", U.S. Census Bureau, September 10, 2026, drawn from the Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue. Per-resident calculations for Minnesota and the national figure are CensusEasy arithmetic using Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates. Implied revenue totals for Washington, Montana, and Alaska are derived from the bureau's stated per-capita thresholds and are approximate.
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How much do states collect in cannabis taxes?
An estimated $3.55 billion across 30 states and the District of Columbia between July 2025 and June 2026, according to the Census Bureau. That is up from $3.06 billion in fiscal 2022, a rise of about 16 percent. Spread across the entire US population it works out to roughly $10.60 per resident.
Which state collects the most cannabis tax per person?
Washington and Montana both collect more than $50 per resident, the highest in the country. Washington levies a 37 percent retail excise tax, the steepest rate anywhere, and Montana 20 percent. Alaska collects more than $30 per resident with no retail excise tax at all, relying on a $50-per-ounce tax charged when growers transfer cannabis to a licensed business.
Why did cannabis tax revenue fall in 2023?
Because of California. The state eliminated its cultivation tax on July 1, 2022 to lower prices and draw buyers away from the illegal market, keeping only its 15 percent retail excise tax. California's revenue fell from $878.56 million in fiscal 2022 to $528.23 million in fiscal 2023, a drop large enough to pull the national total down with it.
