Vangst, a Denver-based cannabis industry jobs platform, has released its 2024 Jobs Report which states Michigan, along with Missouri, led the nation by adding more than 10,000 jobs in the cannabis industry in 2023.
The 2024 Vangst Jobs Report, completed in partnership with Whitney Economics, examined each market’s specific regulatory environment, investment climate, cannabis license data, and past performance to document key changes within the legal cannabis industry and determine the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs supported by the legal industry.
The report highlighted several positive trends within the legal cannabis industry, including job creation and sales growth. The legal cannabis industry added 22,952 new jobs in 2023, a 5.4 percent year-over-year increase that brings the total number of full-time equivalent jobs supported by the industry to 440,445.
The increase in full-time equivalent jobs is supported by the $28.8 billion worth of legal cannabis products sold in 2023, an increase of $2.7 billion over the previous year.
Key findings from the 2024 Vangst Jobs Report include:
- Michigan and Missouri led the nation in cannabis job growth, adding more than 10,000 jobs each in 2023.
- New York and New Jersey continue to grow steadily, adding 2,050 and 4,870 jobs, respectively.
- The earliest legal states — California, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon — experienced the greatest job losses.
- Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland will be the hot job markets in 2024, with thousands of new hires needed in the coming year.
- Look for a moderate 9 percent growth in overall revenue in 2024, with more expansion expected in 2025 as lower interest rates make investment and growth affordable once more.
The legal cannabis industry is expected to continue experiencing moderate growth in 2024. Overall revenue is projected to rise by 9 percent in 2024, with more expansion expected in 2025. Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland are also uniquely positioned to attract professionals to the industry, with thousands of new hires needed in the coming year.
“When we started Vangst, there were less than 50,000 full-time employees in the cannabis industry,” says Karson Humiston, founder and CEO of Vangst. “Less than a decade later, there are 440,445 full-time employees in cannabis, a number that will continue growing. I am very proud of the work our team does to create the industry’s go-to-report, to examine jobs per state, something that the federal government does not do for our industry.”
According to Humiston, the findings of the 2024 Vangst Jobs Report are essential to understanding the health of the legal cannabis industry in the U.S.
Federal prohibition prevents federal and state labor departments from compiling data on the legal cannabis industry. Vangst and Whitney Economics counteract anti-cannabis restrictive measures by exploring an industry that has proven to be the fastest-growing business sector in the United States.
To learn more about the 2024 Vangst Jobs Report and the direction of the industry, visit here.