Clever, a real estate data company, just published new research in collaboration with Leafly that found Phoenix is the No. 13 best weed city in America.

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Phoenix is home to 2.5 dispensaries per 100,000 residents, with an average dispensary rating of 4.3 stars out of 5. There are also 0.4 head shops per capita in Phoenix.

Residents in Phoenix pay $292 for one ounce of high-quality marijuana. Only three cities in our top 15 — Baltimore, Hartford, and Boston — pay more than the average price of $316 among all 50 cities studied. 

If Phoenix residents spent the local average annual salary on cannabis, they could purchase 178 ounces of high-quality weed.

Portland dethroned Denver as the best weed city in 2023. Residents enjoy the least expensive cannabis in the country, with a high-quality ounce costing just $210 — $106 less than the national average ($316).

“When you’re thinking about where to go next, look at how the local government handles cannabis,” said David Downs, senior content manager at Leafly. “Cannabis liberalization and regulatory innovation tracks with good governance. It’s a litmus test for democracy and other issues.”

To determine the best weed cities, we analyzed data from Leafly, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Google Trends, Price of Weed, and Yelp.

Our weighted rankings evaluated various criteria, including:

  • 10x: Legality
  • 6x: Cannabis-prescribing doctors per 100,000 residents
  • 5x: Dispensaries per 100,000 residents
  • 5x: Average rating of dispensaries out of 5 stars
  • 4x: Site visitors to Leafly
  • 3x: Price of 1 ounce of high-quality weed
  • 3x: Affordability of high-quality weed
  • 2x: Price of 1 ounce of medium-quality weed
  • 2x: Affordability of medium-quality weed
  • 2x: Number of head shops per 100,000 residents
  • 2x: Google Trends data for 12 common marijuana-related search terms
  • 1x: Number of Taco Bells per 100,000 residents
  • 1x: Concert venues per 100,000 residents
  • 1x: Number of local hiking trails according to the AllTrails database
  • 1x: Public perception score