Budtender Salary: Average Pay and Career Guide

According to Indeed, the average budtender salary in the U.S. is $44,267 per year, with an average hourly wage of about $16.78. Actual earnings can vary significantly based on location, experience, employer, and additional compensation such as tips and bonuses.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at budtender salary benchmarks, the factors that can increase or decrease your earnings, the benefits and challenges of the job, and whether budtender training can help you prepare for a career in the cannabis industry.

How Much Do Budtenders Make?

As mentioned above, the average salary of a budtender nationwide is $44,267, which works out to about $16.78 per hour. They estimate that most budtending jobs range between hourly rates of $13.58 and $20.72.

Unlike many other customer service or tipped jobs, it’s fairly common among dispensary jobs to have the option of full-time hours. Of course, part-time work will pay less, with a 20-hour-a-week schedule adding up to roughly $22,133 a year.

Your expected income as a budtender will also vary based on location. Indeed estimates that some of the highest-paying cities for budtenders include Denver, which averages $19.44 an hour, and Los Angeles, where it’s $18.99 an hour. In other states, the average budtender salary can be significantly lower; for example, in Oklahoma, it’s $12.96 .

Keep in mind, the above numbers are likely based on the employer’s hourly wage. It’s notoriously difficult to track tipped wages accurately. Glassdoor aligns with Indeed on base pay for budtenders but estimates that they may earn an additional $10,000 to $19,000 a year in additional pay.

What Affects a Budtender's Salary?

What the budtender average salary doesn’t show you is all the variation and reasons for it.

For example, your personal budtender salary will depend on:

• Tips and Bonuses. Most dispensaries collect tips, which can substantially boost your potential earnings. Some have bonus systems based on sales to reward those who excel at upselling or cross-selling.
• Location. Pay varies by state and city. Often, it tracks with cost of living, but how the concentration of dispensaries compares to local demand can also play in. Even within a single city, some stores are higher-traffic than others, which can lead to a difference in tip earnings.
• Experience. Newcomers are often paid a lower hourly wage than those with several years of experience. More experience can also lead to busier shifts and bigger tips.
• Employer Type. As the cannabis industry has become more corporatized, you’re seeing a division between dispensaries that will pay as little as they can get away with and those that pay a living wage.

Is Budtending a Good Career?

As you can imagine, budtender salary doesn’t give you the full picture for whether or not it’s a good career. Let’s look at the common benefits and challenges of being a budtender.

Benefits of Working as a Budtender

Commonly cited benefits of budtender jobs include:

• Helping People. Many cannabis customers use the products to enhance their health or well-being, which can make dispensary jobs very rewarding to many.
• Like-Minded Community. Cannabis culture is a phenomenon all its own, and many people enjoy working with others, both customers and colleagues, who have similar interests and mindsets.
• Learning the Industry. As a budtender, it’s your job to learn about cannabis products and emerging trends. A lot of people enjoy being the go-to resource.
• Free and Discounted Products. Since part of a budtender’s job is to know the products, many dispensaries give dispensary personnel a certain allowance of samples for learning purposes. Employee discounts are common, beyond the freebies. That can be great if you’re an enthusiast.
• Growth Potential. The cannabis industry is still young, with a lot of opportunity. Budtender jobs are often the entry point for more lucrative cannabis industry careers.

Challenges to Consider

The common downsides of budtender jobs are:

• (Usually) No Benefits. Most dispensaries don’t provide health insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, or other traditional benefits. Be on the lookout for unicorn dispensaries that do.
• Dealing with “The Public.” As anyone in a customer service job knows, some people can be difficult, to say the least. Cannabis has its share of problem customers.
• Retail Schedules. Evenings, weekends, last-minute calendar assignments. Dispensaries have all the pitfalls of retail scheduling.
• Standing for Long Periods. You’re likely to spend most of the shift on your feet.
• Compliance Responsibilities. Cannabis dispensaries are often under intense scrutiny, and stepping outside the regulations can result in the business losing its license. Budtenders need to stay alert to compliance at all times.
• Corporatization. Once upon a time, dispensaries were small, privately-owned businesses, but that’s becoming increasingly rare. Some budtenders report worsening work conditions and more emphasis on profit, so look for a dispensary that is good to its employees.
• Legality and Liability. Cannabis still exists in a gray area, federally. Technically, it’s still illegal at the national level. Bank accounts associated with cannabis can get shut down without warning. And, for the moment, it won’t look good on a resume if you want to be an FBI agent when you grow up.

Careers Similar to Budtending

If you’re not quite up for budtending (or still fall short of the budtending age requirements ), what similar careers can serve as alternatives?

Budtending involves retail, customer service, regulatory compliance, and tips. That’s a lot of overlap with:

• Bartending or alcohol sales jobs, which also involve regulated, age-restricted substances, careful compliance requirements, and the need to assess customers’ state of mind. An alcohol safety course can help you prepare for your responsibilities and meet jurisdictional requirements.
• Food service jobs, in which you have to comply with food safety standards, cater to the general public, and deal with a hectic environment. We can prepare you for the regulatory challenges with food handlers training .

Regulated retail environments like these will build your compliance, sales, and customer service muscles if you decide to pursue budtending after all.

Explore Cannabis Training and Career Resources

Now that you understand the factors that affect budtender salary and the pros and cons of budtending as a career, are you ready for the next step?

Learn2Serve can help you explore the cannabis industry further with our ANAB-accredited budtender courses. You’ll learn about cannabis effects and regulations that will prepare you for budtending, and you’ll be able to study at your own pace from any device. Enroll today to research this career!