How the figures were read
Every price here is a median of listed sale prices on Chicago and Illinois menus our scraper read on the morning of 17 October 2026, the newest at 15:29 UTC, counted at 23:41 UTC that night. Products are grouped by size, so a 3.5g eighth is only compared with other eighths and a 100mg edible with other 100mg packages. A median is printed only where at least 20 products stand behind it.
Listed is not paid. These are pre-tax prices as the stores published them, on one day, and a median describes the typical listing rather than the lowest one. The 1g vape figure combines cartridges and disposables, because the city-level read does not separate them.
Chicago sits above the state on most sizes
The median Chicago eighth was $33.99, on 201 listings from 13 stores, against $30 across Illinois on 1,192 listings from 72 stores. The gap was widest for 1g concentrates, $45 in the city and $35 statewide, and it showed again on half-gram vapes, $35 against $30, and on single pre-rolls, $13.50 against $12.
Two sizes did not follow. A 100mg edible had the same $14.40 median in Chicago and in Illinois as a whole, and the ounce was $100 in the city against $101.25 statewide, close enough to call level. As in Michigan, the dosed products are the ones where location matters least.
| Size | Chicago | All of Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| Eighth (3.5g) | $33.99 (201 / 13) | $30.00 (1,192 / 72) |
| Ounce (28g) | $100.00 (37 / 6) | $101.25 (269 / 52) |
| Pre-roll (1g) | $13.50 (149 / 13) | $12.00 (966 / 63) |
| Vape (0.5g) | $35.00 (77 / 8) | $30.00 (191 / 36) |
| Vape (1g) | $43.40 (215 / 13) | $40.00 (721 / 72) |
| Edible (100mg) | $14.40 (71 / 12) | $14.40 (486 / 62) |
| Concentrate (1g) | $45.00 (51 / 10) | $35.00 (274 / 53) |
Then the city and county add their own tax
The shelf gap is only part of it. A purchase inside Chicago carries the city's 3% cannabis tax and Cook County's 3% on top of the Illinois excise and the 6.25% state rate, so the same listed price costs more at a Chicago register than at most stores outside Cook County. Our Illinois tax guide works through each layer by product type.
Across the state line the contrast is sharper still. On the same night Michigan's statewide median eighth was $16 and its 1g pre-roll $7, as our Michigan price piece sets out. For anyone weighing the drive, the comparison worth making is flower and vapes; the median 100mg edible sat between $12 and $15 in all four states we read.