There are now more than 211,000 cannabis jobs across the United States (296,000 if indirect jobs are included). More than 64,000 of those jobs were added in 2018. That’s enough people to fill Chicago’s Soldier Field, with 3,000 more tailgating outside. 

The number of “plant-touching” jobs is expected to pass 500,000 by 2022 and employ 630,000 people by 2025, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis market research and data analysis firm. 

These jobs don’t take into account industries that rely on the cannabis economy, including financial, legal, real estate, construction and other professional services. And because cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, employment data agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics don’t track jobs related to the cannabis industry.