The U.S. Census Bureau reported September 10 that state-licensed cannabis retailers generated an estimated $3.55 billion in combined excise tax revenue between July 2025 and June 2026, across 30 states and the District of Columbia. The figure is up 15.7% from the roughly $3.06 billion states collected in fiscal year 2022, the first full year the Bureau tracked cannabis tax data nationally.
The U.S. Census Bureau published this data September 10 as part of its Quarterly Summary of State and Local Government Tax Revenue (QTAX) survey, which has tracked state cannabis excise taxes since 2021. The figures are Bureau estimates based on state-reported collections and are subject to routine revision.
By the Numbers
When the Census Bureau began tracking cannabis excise taxes in 2021, only 19 states and D.C. imposed one. Five years later, 31 jurisdictions do, after 11 more states entered the legal market — Alabama was the most recent, in May 2026. Total collections rose from $3.06 billion in fiscal 2022 to $3.55 billion in the year ending June 2026, even as some individual state markets matured or contracted.
On a per-resident basis, Washington and Montana led all states, each collecting more than $50 per resident annually in cannabis excise taxes. Alaska, which has no retail excise tax, still collected more than $30 per resident through other cannabis-specific levies. California, long the largest market by total dollars, saw its collections decline after eliminating a separate cultivation tax in 2022, illustrating that total revenue depends heavily on how each state structures its tax, not just how large its market is.
Newer markets are still ramping up. Minnesota's cannabis tax collections nearly doubled year over year, from $16.57 million in fiscal 2025 to $34.44 million in fiscal 2026, after the state issued 324 new cannabis business licenses in 2025 and raised its excise tax rate from 10% to 15%. Delaware's collections also grew as its adult-use market expanded.
Why It Matters
Cannabis excise taxes have become a recurring, measurable line item in state budgets, and the Census Bureau's methodology gives policymakers and industry watchers a consistent, year-over-year way to compare states that use very different tax structures — some tax at the retail point of sale, others at cultivation or wholesale, and rates vary widely. The 15.7% growth over four years shows the overall market for legal cannabis tax revenue is still expanding nationally, even though growth is uneven: some mature markets like California are shrinking their per-dollar tax take while newer markets like Minnesota and Delaware post triple-digit percentage gains off a smaller base.
For cannabis operators, the report is also a reminder that tax rate design directly shapes competitiveness against the illicit market. States with high per-resident collections, like Washington and Montana, have generally paired that with mature, well-established retail markets, while states still building out licensing, like Minnesota, are seeing revenue climb as their markets scale up.
What This Means for Texas
Texas has no state-licensed adult-use or broad medical cannabis retail market and therefore contributes nothing to this Census Bureau figure. Texas hemp-derived products are taxed and regulated under a separate framework tied to total THC concentration limits, not a state cannabis excise tax comparable to the ones tracked in this report. Texas readers should not expect a state excise tax structure like Washington's or Montana's without a change in Texas law creating a licensed adult-use or broader medical cannabis market. See our guide to the federal hemp delay and how Texas rules remain unchanged for how Texas's current framework actually works.
The Bottom Line
State cannabis excise tax collections reached an estimated $3.55 billion for the year ending June 2026, up 15.7% since 2022, as more states built out legal markets and existing markets like Minnesota's scaled up. Growth was not uniform: mature markets like California saw declines tied to tax-structure changes, while newer markets posted large percentage gains. The Census Bureau's QTAX data gives a consistent national benchmark for tracking that growth going forward.