Minnesota / Explore Minnesota Tourism

Agency file

Explore Minnesota Tourism

Source file: Minnesota — State Employee Payroll / ingested Jun 18, 2026

The Explore Minnesota Tourism is a government agency that delivers public services and programs within its jurisdiction.

In 2025, this agency had 47 employees with median total compensation of $74,697; the highest distinct record was $156,794.

Year: 2025
Total payroll: $3.5M
Employees: 47
Median total: $74,697
Highest record: $156,794

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

$11,968$144,193+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2025 total compensation is spread across the 47 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($74,697) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $72,996 (99%)
Overtime — $123 (0%)
Other — $720 (1%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$21,826

$45,317

$74,697

$97,734

$125,092

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $125,092 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $21,826. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Customer Services Specialist

8 · $22,978

Communications Supervisor

3 · $117,373

Communications Specialist 3

3 · $91,553

Communications Specialist 2

3 · $73,959

Tourism Travel Information Center Sup

3 · $70,986

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 2 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2024	$2.7M —	39 —	$71,022 —
2025	$3.5M ▲ 27.1%	47 ▲ 20.5%	$74,697 ▲ 5.2%

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Lyndsey Hanson

Planner Senior State/Explore Minnesota Tourism

2024 total comp

$81,114

Sub-department: Tourism Exec Team
Base pay: $81,114
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $81,114
Hire date: 2015-05-26
Employment type: Full-Time
Pay grade: 10
Union / bargaining unit: MN Assoc of Professional Empl
Pay basis: Hourly
Full-time equivalent (FTE): 1
Work county: Ramsey

Source-specific fields

Active on June 30, 2024: Yes
Agency Number: B20
Bargaining Unit Number: 214
Branch: Executive
Branch Code: Executive
Classified Code: Classified
Classified Status: Classified
Compensation Frequency Code: Hourly

Lyndsey Hanson works as a Planner Senior State for Explore Minnesota Tourism within Tourism Executive Team. Their tenure dates to 2015, about 9 years as a full-time employee. Lyndsey earned $81,114 in 2024. They are represented by MN Assoc of Professional Empl.

Melanie Graves

Information Officer 3/Explore Minnesota Tourism

2025 total comp

$80,852

Sub-department: Tourism-Communications Unit
Base pay: $80,852
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $80,852
Hire date: 2018-05-29
Employment type: Full-Time
Pay grade: 10
Union / bargaining unit: MN Assoc of Professional Empl
Pay basis: Hourly
Full-time equivalent (FTE): 1
Work county: Ramsey

Source-specific fields

Active on June 30, 2025: Yes
Agency Number: B20
Bargaining Unit Number: 214
Branch: Executive
Branch Code: Executive
Classified Code: Classified
Classified Status: Classified
Compensation Frequency Code: Hourly

Melanie Graves holds the role of Information Officer 3 at Explore Minnesota Tourism within Tourism-Communications Unit. Their tenure dates to 2018, about 7 years as a full-time employee. In 2025, their total compensation was $80,852. Union affiliation: MN Assoc of Professional Empl.

Sean Lydon

State Program Administrative Senior/Explore Minnesota Tourism

2025 total comp

$80,852

Sub-department: Digital Strategy Unit
Base pay: $80,852
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $80,852
Hire date: 2014-10-09
Employment type: Full-Time
Pay grade: 10
Union / bargaining unit: MN Assoc of Professional Empl
Pay basis: Hourly
Full-time equivalent (FTE): 1
Work county: Ramsey

Source-specific fields

Active on June 30, 2025: Yes
Agency Number: B20
Bargaining Unit Number: 214
Branch: Executive
Branch Code: Executive
Classified Code: Classified
Classified Status: Classified
Compensation Frequency Code: Hourly

Sean Lydon works as a State Program Administrative Senior for Explore Minnesota Tourism within Digital Strategy Unit. They have served since 2014 (about 11 years) as a full-time employee. Sean earned $80,852 in 2025. They are represented by MN Assoc of Professional Empl.

Jared Laabs

Communications Specialist 2/Explore Minnesota Tourism

2025 total comp

$79,546

Sub-department: Tourism-Marketing Coordination
Base pay: $79,546
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $0
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $79,546
Hire date: 2000-05-22
Employment type: Full-Time
Pay grade: 11
Union / bargaining unit: MN Assoc of Professional Empl
Pay basis: Hourly
Full-time equivalent (FTE): 1
Work county: Ramsey

Source-specific fields

Active on June 30, 2025: Yes
Agency Number: B20
Bargaining Unit Number: 214
Branch: Executive
Branch Code: Executive
Classified Code: Classified
Classified Status: Classified
Compensation Frequency Code: Hourly

Jared Laabs is a Communications Specialist 2 at Explore Minnesota Tourism within Tourism-Marketing Coordination. Hired in 2000, they have about 25 years of service, working full-time. 2025 total compensation came to $79,546. Union affiliation: MN Assoc of Professional Empl.