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Cannabis industry data · Updated Oct 26, 2026
Which state has the most cannabis dispensaries per person?
Montana, by a wide margin. Alaska and Oregon come next; Ohio, Maryland and Delaware have the fewest.
We counted 8,233 licensed stores on the official lists of 21 adult-use states and divided by each state’s 2025 Census population. Alaska (28.1) and Oregon (18.5) follow Montana. California has the most stores in total (1,272) but only 3.2 per 100,000.
Checked Oct 26, 2026 · State regulator sources only · Download the data (CSV)
Montana has 47.7 licensed cannabis stores per 100,000 residents, 37 times as many as Delaware (1.3)
Licensed cannabis stores per 100,000 residents in the 21 adult-use states that publish an official list we could count, October 2026. What a state counts differs (adult-use only or shared with medical; licenses or locations), so read each state’s note.
Source: CTU analysis of each state regulator’s license list or official store locator (21 states), divided by U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates. New Mexico and Rhode Island: not published. Data dated Sep 1 to Oct 26, 2026; checked Oct 26, 2026. Map: Cannabis Training University
Every adult-use state and DC. Select a column heading to sort. States without a countable official list stay at the bottom with no number.
| What’s counted | Source | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | 47.7 | 546 | 1,144,694 | Adult-use (most also medical)Licensed dispensary locations with adult-use sales; 8 medical-only locations excluded | DORData as of Oct 2026 |
| Alaska | 28.1 | 207 | 737,270 | Adult-useRetail Marijuana Store licenses, status Active-Operating (201) or Active-Pending Inspection (6) | AMCOData as of Oct 5, 2026 |
| Oregon | 18.5 | 790 | 4,273,586 | Adult-useRecreational Retailer licenses, status Active | OLCCData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
| Vermont | 17.4 | 112 | 644,663 | Adult-useRetailer licenses on the Active Licenses Report; 2 integrated licensees and medical dispensaries excluded; not confirmed open | CCBData as of Oct 21, 2026 |
| Maine | 13.0 | 184 | 1,414,874 | Adult-useAdult Use Store licenses, status Active; medical dispensaries and caregiver stores excluded | OCPData as of Sep 1, 2026 |
| Colorado | 10.7 | 644 | 6,012,561 | Adult-useEvery store on the Retail Marijuana Stores list; medical centers and delivery permits excluded | MEDData as of Oct 1, 2026 |
| Michigan | 8.3 | 837 | 10,127,884 | Adult-useAdult-use Marihuana Retailer licenses, status Active; microbusinesses, tribal retailers and medical provisioning centers excluded | CRAData as of Oct 15, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | 6.4 | 457 | 7,154,084 | Adult-useMarijuana Retailer licenses, status Active; medical treatment centers, delivery and microbusinesses excluded | CCCData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
| Washington | 6.0 | 477 | 8,001,020 | Adult-use (some medically endorsed)Cannabis Retailer (457) and Social Equity Cannabis Retailer (20) licenses, status Active | LCBData as of Oct 21, 2026 |
| New York | 4.4 | 887 | 20,002,427 | Adult-useAdult-Use Retail Dispensary (519), Conditional Retail Dispensary (357) and Registered Organization Dispensary (11) licenses, status Active (654 also marked operational); microbusinesses and delivery excluded | OCMData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
| Minnesota | 4.2 | 245 | 5,830,405 | Adult-use (53 also medical)Licensed cannabis retail sites (retailer, microbusiness, mezzobusiness and medical combination licenses with a retail site); not confirmed open; delivery and hemp-edible retailers excluded | OCMData as of Oct 19, 2026 |
| Missouri | 3.8 | 238 | 6,270,541 | Medical + adult-useLicensed dispensaries (224) and microbusiness dispensaries (14) | DHSSData as of Oct 6, 2026 |
| New Jersey | 3.4 | 326 | 9,548,215 | Adult-use (57 also medical)Operating locations tagged "Recreational cannabis" on the CRC dispensary map, incl. expanded ATCs and microbusiness retailers; one address listed twice counted once | CRCData as of Oct 13, 2026 |
| California | 3.2 | 1,272 | 39,355,309 | Adult-use and/or medicinalCommercial - Retailer (storefront) licenses, status Active; non-storefront (delivery) retailers and microbusinesses excluded | DCCData as of Oct 15, 2026 |
| Nevada | 3.2 | 106 | 3,282,188 | Adult-useRetail Dispensary licenses, status Active (1 of them marked suspended); medical dispensaries and lounges excluded | CCBData as of Oct 2, 2026 |
| Arizona | 2.3 | 172 | 7,623,818 | Medical + adult-useLicensed marijuana facilities, dispensaries and establishments with an active license (1 not yet operating); labs excluded | ADHSData as of Oct 15, 2026 |
| Illinois | 2.3 | 290 | 12,719,141 | Adult-use (some also serve patients)Active Adult Use Dispensing Organization licenses | IDFPRData as of Oct 15, 2026 |
| Connecticut | 2.1 | 76 | 3,688,496 | Adult-use + hybridOperating retail locations of type Hybrid Retailer (46) or Adult-Use Cannabis Only (30); 1 medical-only location excluded | DCPData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
| Maryland | 1.9 | 122 | 6,265,347 | Medical + adult-useLicensed dispensaries (all medical and adult-use) | MCAData as of Sep 8, 2026 |
| Ohio | 1.9 | 231 | 11,900,510 | Medical + adult-useDual-use dispensaries holding a certificate of operation | DCCData as of Oct 23, 2026 |
| Delaware | 1.3 | 14 | 1,059,952 | Medical + adult-useDispensary locations listed by the OMC, all serving medical patients and adult-use customers | OMCData as of Sep 1, 2026 |
| New Mexico | Not published | – | 2,125,498 | –No official count of retail locations: the license search lists 255 Cannabis Retailer, 324 Vertically Integrated and 201 Integrated Microbusiness licenses, and the integrated types mix retail with growing and manufacturing | RLDChecked Oct 26, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | Not published | – | 1,114,521 | –The commission’s list of licensed compassion centers (hybrid retailers) could not be retrieved (blocked); no number shown until it is read from the official page | CCCChecked Oct 26, 2026 |
| Virginia | No stores yet | 0 | 8,880,107 | –No adult-use retail licenses yet: retail sales begin July 1, 2027 (CCA timeline). Medical dispensaries are not counted | CCAData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
| District of Columbia | Medical only | 77 | 693,645 | Medical onlyLicensed medical cannabis retailers (75 storefronts + 2 online-only); DC has no legal adult-use sales, so it is not ranked | ABCAData as of Oct 26, 2026 |
Residents: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates for July 1, 2025. Rate = stores ÷ residents × 100,000, rounded to one decimal. All sources checked Oct 26, 2026; Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan and Montana use the official lists we downloaded Oct 5–15, 2026 (their lists open only in a browser app or block automated downloads).
We don’t fill gaps from store-finder apps or industry trackers. If a state doesn’t publish a list we can count, it stays grey.
This article first compared six states on Oct 15, 2026. That comparison follows below; since then Illinois’ list rose to 290, Massachusetts’ to 457 and New York’s to 887 (now including 11 registered-organization dispensaries). The table above has the current figures.
Thinking about running a dispensary?
The Cannabis Business & Dispensary Management Certificate covers licensing, compliance, staffing, inventory and store operations, with a certificate at the end.
How many licensed adult-use cannabis stores does a state have for the number of people who live there? We counted the active retail licenses on each state regulator’s own list and divided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest population estimates. Of the six states we checked, Alaska has the most licensed retailers per resident (28.1 per 100,000) and Illinois has the fewest (2.3).
The chart above shows active adult-use retail licenses per 100,000 residents in October 2026. Sources: each state’s license list and U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates.
| State | Active retail licenses | Residents (Jul 1, 2025) | Per 100,000 | License list date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 207 | 737,270 | 28.1 | Oct 5, 2026 |
| Oregon | 790 | 4,273,586 | 18.5 | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Colorado | 644 | 6,012,561 | 10.7 | Oct 1, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | 457 | 7,154,084 | 6.4 | Oct 26, 2026 |
| New York | 887 | 20,002,427 | 4.4 | Oct 26, 2026 |
| Illinois | 290 | 12,719,141 | 2.3 | Oct 15, 2026 |
Download the data (CSV), including each state’s source, list date and population figure.
What counts: an active state license to sell cannabis to adults 21 and over from a store. Medical-only dispensaries, microbusinesses, delivery-only licenses, cultivators, manufacturers and labs are not counted. A license is not always an open store: some license holders have not opened yet, and some stores open and close between list updates. These figures measure licenses, not confirmed storefronts.
License lists (official state sources):
Population: U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Totals, Vintage 2025 (resident population estimates for July 1, 2025). Data date: lists downloaded October 15–26, 2026. Colorado’s list was dated October 1, 2026. For Alaska, a fresh download was not available on October 15, so we used the official list we saved on October 5, 2026. Rates are licenses divided by population, times 100,000, rounded to one decimal place.
Before you open, work at or shop at a store, check the rules in your state: Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois.
For Oregon, see Oregon in our state-by-state guide.
You are welcome to use this chart on your site. Copy the code below; please keep the source credit.
<figure style="margin:0;max-width:1200px"><img src="https://cannabistraininguniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ctu-cannabis-retailers-per-100k-2026.png" alt="Bar chart of licensed adult-use cannabis retailers per 100,000 residents: Alaska 28.1, Oregon 18.5, Colorado 10.7, Massachusetts 6.4, New York 4.4, Illinois 2.3" width="1200" height="760" style="width:100%;height:auto"><figcaption style="font:13px/1.4 Arial,sans-serif;color:#5C6B60">Source: <a href="https://cannabistraininguniversity.com/cannabis-industry/cannabis-retailers-per-capita/" rel="nofollow">Cannabis Training University</a></figcaption></figure>More in Cannabis industry
Data © Cannabis Training University, licensed CC BY 4.0. Please credit and link to CTU.
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