News

Illinois adult-use cannabis sales top $1.05 billion through September: more items sold, fewer dollars recorded

The short answer: Illinois recorded $1,051,628,483.64 in adult-use cannabis sales from January through September 2026, according to IDFPR figures released Oct. 29. That is about 10% less than the same nine months of 2025, while items sold rose about 10%. IDFPR says its Metrc tracking system, fully rolled out in June 2025, records discounts that earlier data missed.

State figures released Oct. 29 show $1.05 billion in adult-use sales from January through September 2026. That is about 10% below the same months of 2025, even though about 10% more items were sold. Illinois says a new tracking system explains part of the gap.

By Monsaur OthmanPublished October 31, 2026Last updated October 31, 20264 sources linked

The Illinois State Capitol dome in Springfield behind a statue of Abraham Lincoln — The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. File photo from June 2023. Photo: Thank You (25 Millions ) views / Wikimedia Commons (via Flickr), CC BY 2.0 (cropped) · CC BY 2.0

What changed

IDFPR reported January-September 2026 adult-use sales of $1,051,628,483.64: $844,701,557.94 to Illinois residents and $206,926,925.63 to out-of-state buyers, on 42,254,694 items. Sources below

Illinois adult-use cannabis sales reached $1,051,628,483.64 in the first nine months of 2026, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) said in a release dated Oct. 29, 2026 (IDFPR, Oct. 29, 2026). We added up the agency's monthly totals and got the same figure (IDFPR monthly figures PDF, updated Oct. 7, 2026).

Key facts - Jan.-Sept. 2026: $1,051,628,483.64 in adult-use sales (IDFPR, Oct. 29, 2026) - In-state buyers $844.7 million; out-of-state buyers $206.9 million, about 20% - 42,254,694 items sold - Biggest month: July, $126.0 million and 5.07 million items - Versus the same months of 2025: dollars down about 10%, items up about 10%

How much did Illinois sell each month in 2026?

From IDFPR's monthly table (PDF, updated Oct. 7, 2026):

Month (2026)	Total sales
January	$110,686,391.60
February	$104,760,737.80
March	$115,431,757.03
April	$115,409,576.27
May	$119,828,550.48
June	$118,149,408.51
July	$125,985,178.31
August	$122,748,403.65
September	$118,628,479.99
Total	$1,051,628,483.64

July was the peak, with 5,070,444 items. September came in at $118,628,479.99 on 4,773,495 items.

Why are dollars down while items sold are up?

The same months of 2025 totaled about $1.167 billion, so 2026 dollar sales are about 10% lower. Items sold rose about 10%. Both figures are our calculations from IDFPR's tables.

IDFPR explains the change in a note attached to its figures. We quote it in full (IDFPR monthly figures PDF):

"The State of Illinois went live with a new, state-of-the-art seed-to-sale, track-and-trace data system in July 2025. The new system, Metrc, rolled out across the cannabis industry over several months and concluded in June. The sales tracking features in Metrc help retailers more accurately and reliably report actual sales, including all discounts and promotions at checkout. A thorough review of past data indicates prior months collected some pre-discount prices. The number of items sold remained consistent across months, resulting in the improved data showing cannabis consumers have been paying less at checkout and with pre-tax prices similar to prices in other states that have legalized adult use cannabis. Sales receipts, subject to tax and tax collections, reported directly to the Illinois Department of Revenue by retailers were accurate and not impacted by the non-discounted prices reported through the previous seed-to-sale system."

The state's Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office posts a version of the same note (CROO sales figures). In plain terms, IDFPR is saying that older monthly figures may have counted some sales before discounts. That would make earlier years look bigger than what buyers actually paid at the register. IDFPR doesn't put a number on how much of the 2026 drop comes from that change.

How much came from out-of-state buyers?

$206,926,925.63, or about 20% of the nine-month total. Illinois residents accounted for $844,701,557.94 (IDFPR, Oct. 29, 2026). IDFPR's notes say it began sorting non-resident sales separately in mid-December 2025.

Do other counts agree?

Not exactly. Headset, a cannabis market data firm, puts Illinois's September 2026 sales at $131.2 million, up 10.8% from a year earlier, with units up 14.2% (Headset). IDFPR's official September figure is $118.6 million. Headset's figures come from its own data, not the state's, and we report IDFPR's as the official count.

IDFPR's documents don't fully agree with each other either. The PDF and the Oct. 29 release give slightly different January and May 2025 figures. The release also prints the 2026 item total as "42,254,69," while the PDF says 42,254,694. IDFPR hasn't said which figures are final, so we round the year-over-year changes.

Sources

Photo: Thank You (25 Millions ) views / Wikimedia Commons (via Flickr), CC BY 2.0 (cropped). The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield; file photo from June 2023.

More state rules: see our Illinois rules tracker.

Related: our rules in every state we track.

Drafted with AI assistance from primary sources. Written and edited by The Highline Report newsroom under Monsaur Othman's editorial standards. Read how we use AI, our editorial policy and our corrections policy.

For adults 21+. News and education only. Nothing here is a health claim or an offer to sell.

Key facts and where they come from

IDFPR reported January-September 2026 adult-use sales of $1,051,628,483.64: $844,701,557.94 to Illinois residents and $206,926,925.63 to out-of-state buyers, on 42,254,694 items. source 1 · source 2
July 2026 was the largest month ($125,985,178.31; 5,070,444 items); September 2026 was $118,628,479.99 on 4,773,495 items. source 1
Compared with January-September 2025 (about $1.167 billion), 2026 dollar sales were down about 10% and items sold up about 10%. source 1
IDFPR's note says Metrc went live in July 2025, rolled out over several months and concluded in June, and that prior months collected some pre-discount prices, while tax receipts reported to the Department of Revenue were not affected. source 1
Headset puts Illinois September 2026 sales at $131.2 million, up 10.8% from a year earlier, with units up 14.2%. source 1