According to the most recent annual report of the industry on employment, jobs in the U.S. cannabis industry dropped by 3.4 percent between 2023-2024. The project has been tracking the full-time equivalent employment of cannabis in the industry since 2017.
The amount of marijuana legal sold in 2024 reached a record of $30,1 billion. This represents a growth of 4.5 percent per year.
The report, published on Tuesday by Colorado-based marijuana staffing company Vangst and the analytics firm Whitney Economics, finds that the industry shed 15,443 full-time equivalent roles last year—a dip analysts said “reflects a broader shift toward operational discipline amid regulatory challenges and market recalibration.”
The new report shows that the U.S. marijuana industry supports approximately 425,002 equivalent full-time positions. The majority of job gains occurred in emerging markets such as New York which saw its cannabis workforce grow by 209 percent over the past year and Mississippi which has more than doubled (up 103%) its employment number since 2023.
More mature markets—such as those in Arizona and Illinois—saw significant drops of 52 percent and 25 percent of jobs, respectively, since a year earlier. Vangst said that these losses were due to “oversupply, higher taxes and decreased consumer participation.”
Beau Whitney is the author of this new report. He’s a Portland-based economist and has been working on it since 2017. The report, which was originally published by Leafly (a cannabis advertising platform), has been taken over by Vangst in 2023.
This is the first time that marijuana employment has declined since 2017.
Cannabis industry maturing from rapid expansion into smart and strategic growth Whitney in a press release on Tuesday. “Even in times of temporary employment decline, businesses are adopting more disciplined models for hiring and remain resilient through difficult conditions.”
With $30.1 Billion in Retail Sales and Major Job Growth in New Markets like New York, Ohio and New Jersey,” he continued, “the outlook of cannabis on the long-term is very strong.”
Vangst Jobs Report 2025
According to the report, industry revenues will continue to rise in coming years. They are expected grow by 13.1 percent annually until 2025 when they reach a total of $34 billion.
It says that employment is expected to recover in states with a growth-friendly environment.
While federal action on rescheduling marijuana is slowing down, Vangst’s press release states that “states such as Ohio and New York have created new waves of jobs thanks to increased license numbers and participation.”
The report states that flexible staffing models, temp-to hire, and multi-trained teams have become key elements of industry workforce strategies.
While the federal government does not track cannabis jobs numbers, the U.S. Census Bureau in 2023 began collecting data on marijuana business activity as well as state cannabis tax revenue.
This new report on cannabis jobs comes just a few weeks after another report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that focused specifically on the U.S. Hemp Industry. The analysis concluded that even when more states, and some members of Congress pursued bans against hemp-based products for consumption, the industry experienced significant growth by 2024.
The National Hemp Report, which USDA conducts annually to assess the economic health of the market, showed that hemp farmers cultivated 45,294 acres of the crop last year, up 64 percent from 2023. In addition, the value of the hemp industry increased about 40% to $445 million.
Farmers grew hemp primarily for its flower. This represented 93% of the production. Flower can be purchased raw but is primarily used as a source of cannabinoids for the manufacture of CBD.
In the meantime, hemp production for fiber increased by 56 percent to 18,855 acres. However, the yields of those plants decreased by 21% to just 3,205 pounds an acre. The value of hemp fibre fell by 2 percent in 2023 due to the decline in prices.
Farmers will produce 3.4 millions pounds of grain by 2024. Value of hemp grain increased by 13 per cent to $2.6million.
Farmers who cultivated the cannabis crop for seed saw substantial growth last year, the USDA survey showed. The USDA survey showed that farmers who grew hemp to make seed will have 2,160 acres in 2024. That’s a significant 61 percent growth from last year. The value of hemp seeds increased by 482 percent, to $16,9 million.
The DEA’s new leader, Donald Trump, said that if he were confirmed, he would make it a priority to examine a federally reclassified marijuana proposal.
Terrance Cole, the DEA Administrator nominee nominated by the Biden Administration, has repeatedly refused to endorse the proposed rule that would move cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III.
Cole has previously voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth.
The candidate worked for DEA as a DEA agent from 1991 to 1999. He is currently Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Part of his responsibilities includes overseeing the state Cannabis Control Authority.
Cole wrote on LinkedIn after a recent visit to CCA: “Everyone knows my stance regarding marijuana since I’ve spent over 30 years in the law enforcement field, don’t bother asking!”
Trump initially chose Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead DEA, but the prospective nominee—who strongly advocated for marijuana decriminalization—withdrew from consideration in January amid scrutiny from conservative lawmakers over the sheriff’s record on COVID-related public safety enforcement actions.
As far as the marijuana rescheduling process is concerned, DEA recently notified an agency judge that the proceedings are still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled as the matter sits before the acting administrator, Derek Maltz, who has called cannabis a “gateway drug” and linked its use to psychosis.
Federally funded study shows that marijuana use reduces alcohol cravings in people who drink a lot.
Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.
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