Michigan surpasses California as the top cannabis market in the U.S. by sales volume

California’s cannabis market, which has long been considered the dominant cannabis market in the U.S., has some competition.

As Michigan approaches its fifth anniversary of legal recreational marijuana sales in the state, it has overtaken California as the largest cannabis market in the U.S., according to some metrics that have not been widely reported but are tracked by the cannabis market intelligence firms and were shared with the Detroit Free Press.

For example, since December 2022, Michigan has sold more total grams of flower and units of other cannabis products (called equivalent unit sales) in both the recreational and medical market compared with California, according to data from BDSA, a cannabis market intelligence firm that tracks sales via point-of-sale data from a panel of participating cannabis retailers.

Another cannabis market intelligence firm, Headset, shows Michigan selling more units than California (defined as a single item that a customer buys, such as a pre-rolled joint, a multipack of pre-rolled joints, a jar of flower or a pack of gummies) since June 2023. Its data shows that in May, Michigan sold 24.2 million units, while California sold 17.3 million units.

These numbers have not been widely reported because most comparisons look at the size of the market in terms of dollar sales. By that metric, California is still a larger market than Michigan. California sold $5.1 billion in recreational marijuana products in 2023, while Michigan sold about $3 billion in recreational marijuana products.