Cannabis is legal in some form in most states, but each market is unique. While some places seemingly have dispensaries loaded with products on every corner, others are far more limited. Knowing this, some may wonder what the best—and worst—cities are for weed.
The blog Real Estate Witch teamed up with Leafly to find out the answers. They ranked the 50 largest metro areas in the country on various canna-centric metrics, including overall the legal status of the plant (adult-use, medical, etc.), number of dispensaries, amount of cannabis-prescribing doctors, prices per ounce of flower, and even availability of head shops and fast food joints.
The best and worst cities for weed are…
Not surprisingly, Denver is at the top of the list for best weed cities, overtaking Portland, Oregon, which fell to second place. Las Vegas rounds out the podium at third, and cannabis mecca San Francisco ranks 14th.
But when it comes to the worst cities for weed, the rankings were a tad more surprising. Minneapolis is the lowest-ranked town where cannabis is fully legal, coming in at 31 out of 50. Despite having a plethora of concert venues and hiking trails (factors also considered), the lack of adult-use dispensaries is likely the reason why the City of Lakes fell toward the bottom. However, retail is expected to come online soon, meaning Minneapolis could easily rise through the ranks in the years ahead.
The worst city for weed overall, according to the analysis, is Louisville, Kentucky. The Southern city has legal CBD (and nothing else), expensive traditional market flower, and a measly “pot passion” score of 53 (determined by the amount of Google searches in the area related to cannabis). Medical cannabis was legalized in Kentucky in 2023 but does not take effect until 2025.
Cannabis consumers may want to avoid the South altogether: eight of the ten lowest-ranking cities are in the region. Getting caught with two ounces or less in Texas could get you three months in jail. The situation is even worse in Georgia, where an ounce is punishable by a year in the slammer.
The honor of “most improved” city went to Kansas City, Missouri, rising 13 spots to ninth place. The Midwest state legalized adult-use marijuana in 2022 and has since seen a serious green rush. Kansas City already has double the number of dispensaries per capita as Los Angeles despite being a fraction of the size.
Until (or if) a nationwide marijuana market is established, the rankings could see a serious shake-up. But in the meantime, weed lovers know where they’re welcome.
