It’s hard to believe just how much has shifted in the 12 years since Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize cannabis for adult use. The two pioneer states are now among a total of 24, alongside the District of Columbia, that have since legalized recreational cannabis use on top of 37 that have legalized medical cannabis.
Four more states are currently campaigning to put legalization questions on their respective November ballots later this year, and as weed seems to be a hotter topic than ever before, Real Estate Witch sought to find 2024’s best (and worst) cannabis-friendly cities in the U.S. in a new report.
Additionally, the online publication conducted a poll to learn even more about modern-day American cannabis perspectives.
Real Estate Witch partnered with Leafly to rank the 50 largest U.S. metros from based on a number of metrics. Most important was the legality of cannabis, followed by Google Trends data for common cannabis-related search terms, dispensaries and cannabis-prescribing doctors per 100,000 residents, local dispensary ratings and numerous other factors like pricing and prominence of other recreational activities one may want to embrace while high.
The Top Weed-Friendly U.S. Cities
Denver, Colorado took the number one spot from Portland, Oregon (which ranked first in 2023’s list).
The report notes the prevalence of dispensaries in Denver (the third-most with 10.4 per 100,000 residents and four times the average city), low weed costs without sacrificing quality, along with an average dispensary rating of 4.37 stars out of 5 on Leafly—22% higher than the average rating of 3.59.
“It’s the Mile High City. It’s right there in the name,” said David Downs, senior content manager at Leafly. “I want to call out specifically that Colorado has amazing hash because it’s so high and dry and often cold.”
Downs also cited that Colorado is one of the oldest cannabis markets in the country, having the most time to implement its program and allow it to mature.
Portland dipped to the second-place spot, with the report largely citing its many additional recreational activities to enjoy while high, like plentiful movie theaters, hiking trails and abundant restaurants. Portland also had the second-most retailers, with 13.7 per 100,000 residents (or nearly six times the average city), though it had about 48% fewer head shops per 100,000 residents compared to Denver, which was likely part of the reason why it dropped in ranking.
The remaining top 10 weed cities for 2024, in order, are Las Vegas, Nevada; Buffalo, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Sacramento, California; Kansas City, Missouri and Providence, Rhode Island.
The Least Weed-Friendly U.S. Cities
All of the bottom 10 cities have yet to usher in legal adult-use cannabis, and Birmingham, Alabama was the only city of the bottom 10 to permit medicinal cannabis use.
While Kentucky is set to launch its legal medical cannabis program next year, that wasn’t enough to keep Louisville from taking the bottom spot. The city only has 0.6 head shops per 100,000 residents, less than the 0.9 average, and fewer dispensaries—with just 0.1 cannabis retailers per 100,000 residents.
Citing tight regulations and a lack of cannabis infrastructure, the report says that “Louisville has almost no cannabis culture,” with Downs adding, “We’re hoping for change in Kentucky, and it’s just a matter of time.”
The remaining cities in the bottom 10, in order, are Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Memphis, Tennessee and Indianapolis, Indiana.
The report also ranks Minneapolis, Minnesota as the worst legal city for legal adult-use weed. The state legalized recreational cannabis in August 2023, and Minneapolis climbed nine spots in the ranking since last year to number 31 overall. Still, few cannabis retailers have opened their doors since weed became legal, and those that have received lower than average ratings.
Measuring Current Cannabis Attitudes
In addition to ranking cannabis-friendly U.S. cities, the report includes survey results based on the responses of 1,000 Americans on their cannabis perspectives.
It found that 55% of respondents support full cannabis legalization, with the most support in the Midwest, and just 23% of overall respondents opposing cannabis legalization.
The results also shed some light on cannabis as a replacement for alcohol, arguably the longstanding legal drug of choice in America for numerous decades. If given the choice, 43% of Americans said they would prefer to drink alcohol over smoking weed. Nearly one-third (30%) said they would prefer to use cannabis over alcohol. Smoking or vaping was the most popular consumption method (30%), followed by edibles (27%).
Still, alcohol remains the most popular choice across the U.S. except in the West, where an equal amount of respondents (35%) prefer cannabis and alcohol.
