Written by James Valentine of Custom Cones USA
Once the undisputed leader in cannabis product sales, flower has lost that title to a product that was once an afterthought: the humble pre-roll.
In 2025, the pre-roll category sold more units of product than flower for the first time since legalization. According to Custom Cones USA’s latest annual report on the State of the Pre-Roll Market, pre-rolls saw a substantial rise in unit sales with year-over-year growth of 18.2%, reaching a total of 383.2 million units sold while generating $3.6 billion in revenue across 15 tracked markets; a growth of 9.8% YoY.
“While pre-rolls originated as an opportunity for producers to monetize trim and shake, the pre-roll has become one of the most dynamic and recognizable products in the American cannabis industry,” said Harrison Bard, Co-Founder and CEO of Custom Cones USA, the leading supplier of pre-roll supplies. “Because of their convenience as a ready-to-use product and innovation by brands nationwide, the pre-roll category has become highly competitive while steadily driving revenue for the industry as a whole.”
According to the pre-roll market report, compiled using point-of-sales data from Seattle-based analytics firm Headset, combined with survey data from over 125 pre-roll producers, 2025 marks the fifth straight year of growth for the category, and the fifth straight year that pre-rolls have outperformed the industry as a whole, which only grew 1.5% in 2025.
The Numbers Behind Pre-Rolls
The top-level figures illustrate just how definitively pre-rolls have separated themselves from broader product categories within the cannabis market:
- Total sales surpassed $3.6 billion in 2025, more than double the $1.68 generated in 2021
- Unit sales led the industry, with 383.2 million pre-roll units sold
- Revenue grew 9.8% while unit sales grew 18.6% year-over-year, compared to 1.5% for the overall market
- Market share grew to 15.9%, up 7.6% YoY and 29.5% over the past 5 years
- All but one tracked recreational market (14/15) gained in pre-roll market share, even when overall cannabis sales declined
Infused Pre-Rolls Lead the Category
The category’s continued growth is driven by two powerful factors above the rest: The infused pre-roll and the multi-pack format.
Infused pre-rolled joints and blunts, products that combine cannabis flower with concentrates such as kief, wax or oil to produce highly-potent, flavorful pre-rolls – and a higher price point, pulled in $1.68 billion in 2025, accounting for nearly 47% of total pre-roll sales revenue, up 3% from the previous year. The infused segment also outpaced every other pre-roll segment, growing market share by 27.8%, with sales revenue climbing 16.4%.
When strictly looking at unit sales, though, hybrid single strain pre-rolls were once again the top segment, selling 175.6 million units comparted to 144.6 million for infused products. However, due to the higher price point of infused products due to the addition of cannabis concentrates, the hybrid segment was the runner-up on the sales charts, amassing $1.31 billion.
Infused and hybrid pre-roll products combined accounted for 84% of all pre-roll revenue and units sold, a consistent annual trend driven by consumer demand.
Multi-Pack Popularity Growth
While infused products drive revenue, multi-packs are changing how pre-rolls are sold on today’s market, accounting for 48.5% of all pre-roll products sold in 2025, up from 46.8% in 2024 and 37.7% in 2021.
- More than 50% of all new pre-roll products launched were multi-packs, a first for the popular format
- 90 of the top 100 selling pre-roll products in 2025 were multi-packs, up from 78 in the previous year
- The 2.5-gram 5-pack of half-gram pre-rolls led the multi-pack format, generating $612 million alone, equating to 17.2% of total revenue on 24 million units
- According to the report’s survey of pre-roll producers, 72.4% sell multipacks, with 5-packs the most common format, offered by 50% of multi-pack selling brands
That said, despite the rapid growth in popularity around multi-packs, the single 1-gram pre-roll remained the top-earning product format, grossing $1.44 billion in 2025.
Pre-Roll Price Compression
Consumers flock to pre-rolls for many reasons, including convenience and ease of use, but their relatively low price point offers consumers the ability to try new strains or brands without breaking the bank. And even though revenues continue to climb, unit prices continue their multi-year decline.
- The average pre-roll price in 2025 fell to $9.31, a 6.6% drop from $9.97 in 2025 and nearly 20% below the category’s 2022 peak price of $11.70
- Looking solely at a per-gram equalized basis, the average pre-roll price for the category was $5.95, with an average retail cost to dispensaries of $3.23
- Due to their higher price points from added concentrates, infused pre-rolls command the highest equalized price at $7.50 per gram compared to $4.50 per gram for mixed strain
- Vertically integrated dispensaries that offer house brand pre-rolls averaged $5.33 per unit with a 55% margin, compared to $9.64 and 46.2% margin for non-house brands
- Pre-Rolls ranked third among major cannabis categories for margins, averaging 46.6% compared to edibles at 47.9%, and vape pens at 46.7%
Contrasts Between Two Top Markets
While California led all states in total pre-roll sales with $703.5 million in revenue, the Michigan market best illustrates the growing power behind the pre-roll category.
With a population less than 25% that of California, Michigan consumers generated $599 million in total sales on 133.4 million units sold, ranking Michigan as the top state in the nation by units sold by a margin of over two to one.
Bue one area of the country where stronger than the average growth is prevalent is the East Coast.
- Massachusetts sold $344.9 million in pre-rolls on 37.9 million units, ranking The Bay State No. 1 in pre-roll market share nationally at 20.9%
- Pre-roll revenue in New York was up 96% year-over-year, with unit sales skyrocketing 120.4%
- New Jersey saw revenue jump 50.5% while unit sales rose 79.2%
- Unit sales in Connecticut rose 41.4% YoY
Of the 15 state-markets tracked by analytics firm Headset, 14 grew its share of total cannabis sales, even in states where overall revenues fell, a pattern that suggests strongly that the category is gaining structural ground.
Multiple Pathways to the Top
The top two brands in pre-rolls by revenue illustrate perfectly the range that exists within the pre-roll category.
Jeeter, the California-based brand specializing in premium infused products, topped all brands in revenue with $253.2 million on 10.875 million units sold, at an average price of $23.06 per unit.
On the flip side, Michigan-based Dragonfly cannabis led the country in units sold, moving 22.6 million pre-roll products, more than double that of Jeeter. But with the lowest average unit price among major brands ($1.34), revenue generated on those 22.6 million units totaled just $30.7 million, good for 10th on the sales charts.
The two approaches are effective, showing the industry now support a full pricing spectrum, from Ruby Farm’s connoisseur products (primarily multi-packs) running $38.36 per unit compared to Goodlyfe Farms at $2.83. Mid-tier brands like Presidential and Cali-Blaze also capture substantial volume in between, averaging $16.56 and $6.85 per-unit respectively.
Pre-Rolls Looking Forward
Due to slowing growth and a lack of new legal markets opening, the report tabs conservative growth for pre-rolls at 5-10%, projecting total sales in the range of $3.8 to $4 billion in 2026.
Further predictions and insights from the report include:
- The infused segment is expected to grow around 15% in 2026, with single-strain segments projected at single-digit growth
- Branding has become more important than ever before, with 60% of producers using unbranded cones while every single brand in the top 10 uses custom branded pre-rolled cones and/or tubes, featuring their logo and branding on either custom printed filter tips, cigar brands or both
- The Tri-State Area, consisting of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut remains the fastest-growing regional cannabis market, with additional growth expected in The Garden State as the state’s market continues to mature and consumption lounges begin opening throughout the year
- Massachusetts as well authorized a total of three new consumption lounge license categories in the final month of 2025, further boosting potential pre-roll sales in the state
- Multi-packs are projected to encompass 60% of all pre-roll products within five years and 95% of the top 100 selling pre-roll products
- Pre-roll revenues are forecasted to reach $5.2 billion or more in annual sales by 2030, based on a five-year CAGR (compound annually growth rate) at around 7.5%
These numbers, however, are subject to change if new markets are added to the equation, and two wild card factors loom as well. Valued at nearly $22 billion, the hemp-derived cannabinoid market, which operates outside of state cannabis most state-regulated cannabis frameworks may be snatching demand away from licensed producers. The second are the effects of federal cannabis rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III, a move that would finally provide businesses with long-sought tax relief, potentially unlocking substantial capital for reinvestment and growth.
Even so, today’s market reflects a monumental transformation from just a few years ago, when pre-rolls were often viewed as a secondary product primarily used to monetize excess trim, shake and leftover flower. But today they have emerged as one of the most popular and recognizable products in American legal cannabis.
“The pre-roll category has quietly evolved into one of the industry’s strongest growth drivers,” said Bard. “Continued innovation in product formats, including premium features like glass and wood filter tips, and advances in production technology have elevated the category. Producers that fail to invest in a differentiated, well-branded pre-roll lineup are missing a significant opportunity.”
