California has 1,302 licensed cannabis dispensaries: 16.9% of the US total of 7,724. That ranks #1 by count and #12 per person (3.3 per 100,000 residents) of 51.
Source: State cannabis regulators’ licence lists (16 states and DC), September–October 2026. Every active retail or dispensary licence on each state’s published list, one point each. Medical dispensaries count where those are what the state licenses. Not a national total: legal states without a usable public list (Washington among them) are missing.
Licence: Public records from each state regulator
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<iframe src="https://get-instamaps.com/embed/rankings/cannabis-dispensaries/california" width="100%" height="440" style="border:2px solid #111" loading="lazy" title="California licensed cannabis dispensaries map — InstaMaps"></iframe>OFF The Charts SAN Ysidro · Urbn Leaf · A Green Alternative · March And ASH · BUZZ CANNABIS [Equity Retailer] · Wellgreens Dispensary · March and Ash · Puff-n-dash · California Holistics · STIIIZY National City · Grasshopper · Sessions
"California has 1,302 licensed cannabis dispensaries, #1 in the US by count and #12 per person (State cannabis regulators’ licence lists, September–October 2026, mapped by InstaMaps)." Free to quote with a link to this page. Population: US Census 2024 estimates.