How much does a cannabis purchase really cost, tax included?
Legal cannabis carries some of the steepest combined tax rates of any everyday purchase — often 20-30% all in.
Using Colorado as a representative legal-market example: a 15% state excise tax plus 2.9% state sales tax already adds nearly 18% to the sticker price — before any local cannabis tax, which many cities layer on top and can push the combined rate to 25-30%. Cannabis tax structures vary significantly by state and aren't modeled state-by-state here.
- Modeled on Colorado's STATE-LEVEL rate only (15% excise + 2.9% sales = 17.9%) as a representative legal-state example — local cannabis taxes (common, and often substantial) are not included, and this is not state-by-state accurate for other legal markets.
- Only legal in states that have legalized recreational or medical cannabis — this category assumes you're purchasing legally.
There is no legal adult-use cannabis retail market here, so there is no lawful purchase for this figure to price. What you see is a Colorado purchase, shown for comparison only.
The income tax in this figure is still computed from Texas and your filing status.
to cover cannabis (legal states)
- Income tax (federal, FICA, state)30%$30
- Excise tax11%$11
- Cannabis (legal states)60%$60
- Income tax (federal, FICA, state)
- Excise tax
- Cannabis (legal states)
Data for nerdssources, confidence, assumptions
Where each number comes from
| Component | Amount | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Item price | $60.00 | Your figureHigh confidence. You supplied this, so it is exact by definition. |
| Excise tax | $10.74 | StatutoryHigh confidence. This number is the law — federal, FICA and state tax rates are published rates, so the only real risk is staleness. |
| Income tax to earn it | $29.81 | StatutoryHigh confidence. This number is the law — federal, FICA and state tax rates are published rates, so the only real risk is staleness. |
Jurisdiction applied
- State:
TX - Local income tax: none selected
Assumptions
- Modeled on Colorado's STATE-LEVEL rate only (15% excise + 2.9% sales = 17.9%) as a representative legal-state example — local cannabis taxes (common, and often substantial) are not included, and this is not state-by-state accurate for other legal markets.
- Only legal in states that have legalized recreational or medical cannabis — this category assumes you're purchasing legally.
Sources
If this is a habit
$52,286 over 10 yrsCannabis (legal states), every week — $5,229 of income every year, and 4 work weeks of your life.
Year by year
| Year | Spent | Invested instead |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,678 | $3,678 |
| 2 | $7,357 | $7,614 |
| 3 | $11,035 | $11,826 |
| 4 | $14,714 | $16,332 |
| 5 | $18,392 | $21,154 |
| 6 | $22,071 | $26,313 |
| 7 | $25,749 | $31,834 |
| 8 | $29,428 | $37,740 |
| 9 | $33,106 | $44,061 |
| 10 | $36,785 | $50,824 |
Prices and wages are held at today's levels, and the return above is inflation-adjusted to match — consistent by design. The invested-instead line assumes the cash is contributed at the end of each year and left alone; it is an alternative use of the same money, never an extra cost on top.
Your position in the tax system
29.65% on the next dollarEvery extra dollar you earn is taxed at your marginal rate, not your average one — which is why a purchase costs more to fund than a paycheck stub suggests.
Marginal rates are read in gross-income terms: below the standard deduction an extra dollar of pay adds nothing to taxable income, so the true rate there is 0%, not the lowest bracket's. Excludes pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA), which would lower all three.
Same purchase, different state
TX is #7 of 51Only income tax and sales tax move — the sticker price is held constant, so this is the part of the cost your address actually controls. Spread across all 51: $14, from Alaska to Oregon.
- $101
- Texasyou$101
- $115
Click a state name to compare against somewhere else.
Where every dollar goes
30% never reaches youThe $100.55 you must earn, followed to where it lands. Hover a band to isolate it.
- Federal income tax$22.12
- FICA (Social Security + Medicare)$7.69
- Cannabis (legal states)$60.00
- Excise tax$10.74
Each tax layer is the extra tax this purchase causes — that layer's tax at your income subtracted from its tax at your income plus the gross-up — so bracket boundaries the purchase straddles are handled correctly rather than smoothed over with an average rate.
Is a raise actually a raise?
you keep 70%A raise arrives on top of everything you already earn, so it is taxed at your marginal rate — not the average rate on your whole salary.
Federal, FICA, state and any local income tax — no pre-tax deductions, benefit changes, or payroll withholding quirks, all of which move the real figure. Moving into a higher bracket never taxes the income below the threshold: only the dollars above it pay the higher rate.