The Same Eighth Costs 71% More in Illinois Than in Michigan

Crushed pulled every flower listing currently on the menu in six legal states and compared prices. The spread is bigger than most shoppers would guess: the median flower listing in Illinois runs $48.00. In Michigan, it's $28.00 — 71% cheaper for, on paper, the same plant.

Sorted low to high, the six states line up: Michigan ($28.00 median), Colorado ($32.00), Massachusetts ($35.00), Arizona ($37.50), California ($38.00), and Illinois ($48.00). This is the median across every flower weight currently listed — pre-packed eighths, halves, ounces, the works — not a single SKU size, so treat it as a market-wide price temperature check rather than an eighth-for-eighth quote.

Michigan's rock-bottom price is the predictable result of oversupply: 602 retailers and 592 brands are competing to move flower in a single state, and margins have been racing to the floor there for years. Illinois sits at the opposite extreme — just 209 retailers and 193 brands hold licenses, and with far less competition, pricing power stays with the sellers who have it.

California is the interesting middle case. It's by far the largest market of the six — 898 retailers and 1,045 brands, more than double Illinois on both counts — yet its $38.00 median sits closer to the cheap end than the expensive one. Massive supply keeps California's flower price down even though it's the state most people assume is priciest, and it helps explain why vape has been able to catch up to flower there: when flower is this cheap, the category has less room to hold its lead.