Arizona among top states for jobs in marijuana, study finds

With nearly 21,000 people working in marijuana dispensaries or affiliated businesses, Arizona ranks No. 4 nationally for jobs in the cannabis industry, according to a report released Tuesday by Leafly.

The report was based on employment in 2020, before Arizona launched adult-use marijuana sales in January, so those figures are sure to rise as dispensaries around the state ramp up to meet the new demand from sales to any adult over age 21, not just medical-marijuana patients.

Arizona had more than $1 billion in medical-marijuana sales last year, with about 5,600 new jobs created just last year, according to estimates in the report.

Jobs in the industry start at about $35,000 annually, but salaries top $60,000 for a variety of positions, with many managers earning more than $100,000.

Leafly’s jobs count estimate includes direct, indirect and ancillary jobs in the cannabis industry.

That includes licensed dispensary workers and unlicensed workers in ancillary jobs such as consulting, legal affairs, public relations and governmental regulation.

Nationwide, 321,000 people work in the marijuana industry, a 32% bump from 2019, according to Leafly’s fifth annual cannabis industry jobs report, with 77,000 new jobs created last year.

Leafly is a national online directory for dispensaries and products, which produced the report with Whitney Economics of Portland, Oregon.

The top three states for legal marijuana jobs are California, with about 58,000 workers; Colorado, with about 36,000; and Florida, with about 31,000.

With only its medical-marijuana program in place in 2020, Arizona’s cannabis workforce is larger than Washington and Oregon, both states that legalized marijuana years before Arizona.

Arizona has about 300,000 people with medical cards allowing them to