Marijuana Industry Jobs By Pay
Cannabis legalization has been rapidly spreading across the country and along with it a quickly booming market for its products has emerged in the last few years. According to a new report from one of the commercial cannabis space’s largest recruiters, Vangst, they claim that employment in the cannabis industry will see an unprecedented annual growth of over 200% in 2019.
Vangst also concluded by using survey data collected from over 1,200 cannabis companies that salaries at licensed businesses directly related to marijuana distribution (growers, dispensaries, etc.) grew over 16% and that related job listings in the market increased seven-fold between January and August of this year. While not totally shocking it is somewhat surprising to see so much activity in the space in such short a time frame as it can be difficult to escape the stigma associated with cannabis in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized.
With all of the newly available opportunities in the cannabis industry it can be very attractive to try and get in on the “ground floor” but how exactly do these jobs and careers stack up salary-wise? To provide a little guidance, check out the below details on some of the most common positions in the cannabis industry along with what their average salaries and/or paychecks tend to look like. As you can imagine, positions that require higher levels of education and more know-how in the field like cultivation directors, extraction directors, and experienced growers top the list while retail workers and non-specialists like your local friendly budtenders and plant trimmers are towards the bottom.
1. Budtender (hourly wage):
Low: $12hr
Average: $13.25hr
High: $14hr
Top: $16hr
2. Compliance manager (yearly salary):
Low: $45,000yr
Average: $62,500yr
High: $81,750yr
Top: $149,000yr
3. Cultivation director (yearly salary):
Low: $47,000yr
Average: $88,000yr
High: $140,000yr
Top: $250,500yr
4. Dispensary manager (yearly salary):
Low: $41,500yr
Average: $56,250yr
High: $65,400yr
Top: $98,000yr
5. Extraction director (yearly salary):
Low: $47,000yr
Average: $72,000yr
High: $135,000yr
Top: $191,000yr
6. Outside sales representative (yearly salary):
Low: $28,000yr
Average: $58,800yr
High: $73,500yr
Top: $150,000yr
7. Plant Trimmer (hourly wage):
Low: $11.50hr
Average: $12.25hr
High: $13hr
Top: $14.50hr
The folks at Vangst believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg as successful legalization efforts continue to spread around the country in the coming years, noting an over 16% increase in average salaries in 2018 over 2017. However it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the marijuana industry as only a little over 45% of cannabis companies are currently providing employees with some level of medical coverage while over 20% are not offering any health benefits at all. This can be an extremely important factor for the blossoming industry to try and rectify as soon as possible given that proper access to affordable healthcare is of paramount importance to most Americans this day and age.
Do you believe that folks working in the cannabis market are making good money? Have you ever considered joining the rapidly growing world that is the modern cannabis industry? What type of position(s) would you be interested in exploring as a new career path if you did decide to join the marijuana industry?
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cannabis careerscannabis industrycannabis jobsmarijuana careersmarijuana industrymarijuana jobsweed careersweed Industryweed jobsweed news
