2000 Occupation Codes (OCC)

(Go Back to Occupation Appendices Index)

This page presents the 2000 census occupational classification system recorded in the IPUMS variable OCC. The 2000 5% sample contains less detail than the 2000 1% sample. In the 5% sample, any category representing fewer than 10,000 people was combined with a larger, more generalized category. The page shows each occupation category and its corresponding OCC code, for both the 1% and 5% files.

The 2000 data also contain an alternative classification recorded in OCCSOC. In addition to these contemporary systems, the IPUMS codes all census years into the 1950 occupation classification scheme, recording them in the variable OCC1950. The census occupation classification system changed markedly in 2000, so the correspondence with the 1950 categories is more problematic than for earlier census years. Researchers interested in the period from 1980 to the present should consider using OCC1990. OCC1990 codes occupations into a simplified version of the 1990 occupational coding scheme. The OCC1950 and OCC1990 classifications have corresponding occupational standing measures recorded in the variables SEI, HWSEI, NPBOSS50, NPBOSS90, PRESGL, PRENT, EDSCOR50, EDSCOR90, ERSCOR50, ERSCOR90, and OCCSCORE. Our essay on "Integrated Occupation and Industry codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS" describes how we construct harmonized occupational variables as well as occupational standing variables.