{
  "report_id": "state-of-minnesota-creators-2026",
  "title": "State of Minnesota Creators 2026: Audience Data & Landscape",
  "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/minnesota/state-of-creators-2026/",
  "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/state-of-minnesota-creators-2026.json",
  "snapshot_date": "2026-09-17",
  "last_updated": "2026-09-19",
  "methodology_version": "state-of-creators-v1",
  "scope_note": "Derived analysis after the September 19, 2026 geography-eligibility review, retaining the original September 17 audience observations and their individual source dates. Not a census or a new follower measurement.",
  "summary": {
    "statewide_creator_count": 35,
    "twin_cities_creator_count": 27,
    "twin_cities_share_percent": 77.1,
    "outside_twin_cities_subset_count": 8,
    "verified_greater_minnesota_count": 3,
    "statewide_only_location_count": 5,
    "unique_source_categories": 29,
    "normalized_category_families": 6
  },
  "geography": {
    "minneapolis": 13,
    "st_paul": 5,
    "other_twin_cities_metro": 9,
    "verified_greater_minnesota": 3,
    "minnesota_location_not_city_or_metro_resolved": 5,
    "outside_twin_cities_subset_total": 8,
    "explicit_greater_minnesota_examples": [
      {
        "entity_id": "cboystv",
        "display_name": "CboysTV",
        "location_general": "Cormorant, Minnesota"
      },
      {
        "entity_id": "millennial-farmer",
        "display_name": "Millennial Farmer",
        "location_general": "West Central Minnesota"
      },
      {
        "entity_id": "the-braces-guy",
        "display_name": "The Braces Guy",
        "location_general": "Rochester, Minnesota"
      }
    ]
  },
  "category_distribution": {
    "normalization_note": "Each creator is assigned to one high-level family using the source directory category. Source categories remain unchanged in the directory dataset.",
    "family_counts": {
      "Education and knowledge": 12,
      "Food and culinary": 11,
      "Family and community": 6,
      "Arts, media and entertainment": 2,
      "Lifestyle, fashion and wellness": 2,
      "Outdoors and agriculture": 2
    },
    "source_to_family_mapping": {
      "Animals + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Art + Education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Art + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Business + lifestyle": "Lifestyle, fashion and wellness",
      "Commentary + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Community + culture": "Family and community",
      "Community + philanthropy": "Family and community",
      "Construction + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Education + making": "Education and knowledge",
      "Family + Advocacy": "Family and community",
      "Family + advocacy": "Family and community",
      "Family + comedy": "Family and community",
      "Farming + Agriculture": "Outdoors and agriculture",
      "Fashion + design": "Lifestyle, fashion and wellness",
      "Food": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + Comedy": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + culture": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + local discovery": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + media": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + travel": "Food and culinary",
      "Food + wellness": "Food and culinary",
      "Gaming + media": "Arts, media and entertainment",
      "History + local culture": "Education and knowledge",
      "Law + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Music + education": "Education and knowledge",
      "Outdoor + Lifestyle": "Outdoors and agriculture",
      "Photography + art": "Arts, media and entertainment",
      "Technology + making": "Education and knowledge"
    }
  },
  "platform_datasets": {
    "core4": {
      "record_count": 5,
      "partially_verified_count": 7,
      "leader_entity_id": "josh-liljenquist",
      "leader_name": "Josh Liljenquist (Joshlilj)",
      "leader_value": 39400000,
      "leader_display": "~39.40M",
      "metric": "Combined followers and subscribers across qualifying Core 4 accounts",
      "methodology_version": "core4-v1",
      "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/most-followed-creators-minnesota/",
      "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-creator-index-2026.json",
      "audience_statistics": {
        "measured_total": 61830000,
        "median": 8680000,
        "top_5_share_percent": 100.0,
        "threshold_counts": {
          "100000_or_more": 5,
          "500000_or_more": 5,
          "1000000_or_more": 5,
          "5000000_or_more": 3
        }
      }
    },
    "youtube": {
      "record_count": 16,
      "partially_verified_count": 10,
      "leader_entity_id": "josh-liljenquist",
      "leader_name": "Josh Liljenquist (Joshlilj)",
      "leader_value": 10026640,
      "leader_display": "~10.03M",
      "metric": "YouTube subscribers across qualifying creator-controlled channels",
      "methodology_version": "youtube-v1",
      "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/minnesota/youtube-creators/",
      "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-youtube-creators-2026.json",
      "audience_statistics": {
        "measured_total": 30207840,
        "median": 1130000.0,
        "top_5_share_percent": 76.8,
        "threshold_counts": {
          "100000_or_more": 14,
          "500000_or_more": 10,
          "1000000_or_more": 9,
          "5000000_or_more": 2
        }
      }
    },
    "tiktok": {
      "record_count": 11,
      "partially_verified_count": 10,
      "leader_entity_id": "josh-liljenquist",
      "leader_name": "Josh Liljenquist (Joshlilj)",
      "leader_value": 11500000,
      "leader_display": "~11.5M",
      "metric": "Followers on one verified primary TikTok account",
      "methodology_version": "tiktok-v1",
      "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/minnesota/tiktok-creators/",
      "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-tiktok-creators-2026.json",
      "audience_statistics": {
        "measured_total": 31294300,
        "median": 1900000,
        "top_5_share_percent": 78.0,
        "threshold_counts": {
          "100000_or_more": 11,
          "500000_or_more": 10,
          "1000000_or_more": 8,
          "5000000_or_more": 1
        }
      }
    },
    "instagram": {
      "record_count": 12,
      "partially_verified_count": 8,
      "leader_entity_id": "josh-liljenquist",
      "leader_name": "Josh Liljenquist (Joshlilj)",
      "leader_value": 6942790,
      "leader_display": "~6.94M",
      "metric": "Followers on one verified primary Instagram account",
      "methodology_version": "instagram-v1",
      "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/minnesota/instagram-creators/",
      "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-instagram-creators-2026.json",
      "audience_statistics": {
        "measured_total": 16706796,
        "median": 772078.0,
        "top_5_share_percent": 82.2,
        "threshold_counts": {
          "100000_or_more": 12,
          "500000_or_more": 7,
          "1000000_or_more": 5,
          "5000000_or_more": 1
        }
      }
    },
    "facebook": {
      "record_count": 17,
      "partially_verified_count": 10,
      "leader_entity_id": "josh-liljenquist",
      "leader_name": "Josh Liljenquist",
      "leader_value": 10927495,
      "leader_display": "~10.93M",
      "metric": "Followers on one verified primary Facebook presence",
      "methodology_version": "facebook-v1",
      "page_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/minnesota/facebook-creators/",
      "data_url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-facebook-creators-2026.json",
      "audience_statistics": {
        "measured_total": 36748449,
        "median": 1105977,
        "top_5_share_percent": 78.2,
        "threshold_counts": {
          "100000_or_more": 15,
          "500000_or_more": 12,
          "1000000_or_more": 9,
          "5000000_or_more": 3
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "source_datasets": [
    {
      "dataset_key": "statewide",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "20e9b9c5b0fb0e72c4b99ebcd1cac45ecf2db6926449159aac83acce657bab91"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "metro",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minneapolis-twin-cities-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "becebb7240520bd980d663af0b790385248cf5b543e790ad77a7923d9dff1815"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "core4",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-creator-index-2026.json",
      "sha256": "35796f5475b2850754cd9b7435c45a458f96b47a8aa57ae70109d6fc2651b70a"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "youtube",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-youtube-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "f6a8f32b9b25795154eb794a2356dd4aa254d040dab6f280d5fa4b122efe53c8"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "tiktok",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-tiktok-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "fd47ad0005aba00d494b67dfd760d1e804122d05f9719c62887535c7568fb775"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "instagram",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-instagram-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "6c87af32e6ba69404657797cf1c10d612ec69a449e20af7f053fcd19c495e75f"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "facebook",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/minnesota-facebook-creators-2026.json",
      "sha256": "6f75e591ec674aeeb50aea357bd4ef0613545b0700bd87ffd6621f2eef59ba4f"
    },
    {
      "dataset_key": "famous_people",
      "url": "https://joshliljenquist.com/data/famous-people-minnesota-2026.json",
      "sha256": "b8049d844b2869abdb645ac32698d43b8196f44de3bb90823b5fc657f15f7cca"
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "The report describes creators verified in the published datasets and is not a census of every Minnesota creator.",
    "Audience values are dated platform or source snapshots and may be rounded.",
    "Combined platform and account totals do not represent unique individuals.",
    "Multi-channel YouTube totals do not represent unique subscribers.",
    "Unresolved audience values are not converted to zero.",
    "The snapshot does not support year-over-year growth claims.",
    "September 19 current-geography holds change eligible cohort sizes and derived positions, not original audience observations. Historical and unresolved audiences are not converted to zero."
  ],
  "geography_review_date": "2026-09-19",
  "source_edition_provenance": {
    "clarification_date": "2026-10-22",
    "report_edition": "September 19, 2026 geography review of September 17, 2026 audience observations",
    "source_url_contract": "The source_datasets URLs are current download locations, not an immutable historical input bundle.",
    "source_hash_contract": "The recorded sha256 values identify historical source editions recorded for this report. Current downloads may return different editions; their hashes must not replace the historical hashes without a separate recalculation.",
    "reproducibility_status": "partial_historical_input_availability",
    "limitation": "The complete historical input set is not supplied as a public frozen bundle. Full historical reproduction has not been reverified from the current download links.",
    "data_date_contract": "The clarification date records this provenance explanation only. The original snapshot_date, geography_review_date, last_updated, methodology_version, statistics and source_datasets remain unchanged."
  }
}