Weedy: Atlanta is 10th Best for Growing Marijuana

The marijuana business in the U.S. is growing like a weed, and a new survey ranks Atlanta as the nation's 10th best city for growing it.

LawnStarter, a Texas-based company that produces an app that (appropriately enough), helps people locate and manage lawn care services, recently ranked the nation's 12 best cities for growing marijuana outdoors.

They ranked the cities based on the average number of sunny days, precipitation and high temperatures; population density (you probably don’t want your neighbors or anyone else to know about it); legalization of medical and recreational marijuana; and the seizure of marijuana plants grown outdoors.

Sacramento, CA, was No. 1 on the list. Atlanta's rankings are as follows:

• Average annual sunshine: 60%
• Average annual precipitation: 49.7 inches
• Average annual high temperature: 72 degrees
• Population density per square mile: 1,707
• Medical marijuana legal: No
• Recreational marijuana legal: No
• Number of people in state per 1,000 seized marijuana plants grown outdoors: 212

Legal sales of marijuana reached $5.7 billion in 2015, up from $4.6 billion the previous year, according to a report from ArcView Market Research. For 2016, the market is projected to grow to $7.1 billion. And by 2020, ArcView says, sales of legal marijuana in the U.S. could top $22 billion.

As it stands now, about two-thirds of America’s marijuana crop — the legal and illegal kinds — is grown outdoors, according to Mother Jones magazine.

Here are the nation's 12 best pot spots:

1. Sacramento, CA
2. Memphis, TN
3. Providence, RI
4. Nashville, TN
5. Hartford, CT
6. Louisville, KY
7. Richmond, VA
8. Boston, MA
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Atlanta, GA
11. Indianapolis, IN
12. Birmingham, AL