Description

OCCSCORE is a constructed variable that assigns occupational income scores to each occupation. The construction of this variable is described in "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS" which users should read before using this variable. OCCSCORE assigns each occupation in all years a value representing the median total income (in hundreds of 1950 dollars) of all persons with that particular occupation in 1950. OCCSCORE thus provides a continuous measure of occupations, according to the economic returns received by people working at them in 1950.

The OCCSCORE variable is based on OCC1950. Alternative measures of occupational standing measures that are based on OCC1950 are available in EDSCOR50, ERSCOR50, NPBOSS50, PRESGL, and SEI. For information on the construction of OCC1950 and occupational standing measures, see " Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS".

User caution: There is significant debate about the usefulness of composite measures of occupational standing (in the IPUMS, these variables include SEI, HWSEI, NPBOSS50, and NPBOSS90). We strongly urge researchers to read our user note on this issue and to familiarize themselves with the debates surrounding the use of these variables.

OCCSCORE is a constructed 2-digit numeric variable that assigns occupational income scores to each occupation in all years which represents the median total income (in hundreds of 1950 dollars) of all persons with that particular occupation in 1950. OCCSCORE thus provides a continuous measure of occupations, according to the economic rewards enjoyed by people working at them in 1950. OCCSCORE variable is based on OCC1950. For information on the construction of OCC1950 and occupational standing measures, see "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS". OCCSCORE specific variable codes for missing, edited, or unidentified observations, observations not applicable (N/A), observations not in universe (NIU), top and bottom value coding, etc. are provided below if applicable by Census year (and data sample if specified).

User caution: There is significant debate about the usefulness of composite measures of occupational standing (in the IPUMS, these variables include SEI, HWSEI, NPBOSS50, and NPBOSS90). We strongly urge researchers to read our user note on this issue and to familiarize themselves with the debates surrounding the use of these variables.

OCCSCORE Specific Variable Codes
00 = N/A
79 = 79 (Maximum value: 1970-1990)
80 = 80 (Maximum value: 1850-1960, 2000, ACS, PRCS)

Comparability

User Note: For years prior to 1940, information on occupation was collected for persons who had not permanently retired (see OCC for further discussion). In 1940 and 1950, only persons in the labor force responded to the occupation inquiry. In 1960 and 1970, occupations were recorded for persons who had worked within the previous ten years; and in 1980-2000 censuses, the ACS and the PRCS, for persons who had worked within the previous five years. Persons not currently in the labor force who reported a past occupation in OCC do receive an income score. Note also that some cases in 1940, 1950, and 1960 have missing values in occupation (code 997 in OCC1950). Many of these persons were in the labor force (working or looking for work), but, because they did not report an occupation, they receive an income score of zero. To construct a fully compatible universe, select persons currently in the labor force (see LABFORCE), with a valid occupational response in OCC1950 (0 through 970).

Any person in the military for 1960 on is assigned the military OCC1950 code (595), along with the corresponding OCCSCORE and SEI values. Military personnel had no occupation in the original 1960-1980 samples, but beginning in 1990 they were to report their specific line of work in the military (e.g., cook, clerk). Because the original occupations for military personnel are preserved in the variable OCC, OCCSCORE and SEI can vary within occupations in OCC for 1990 on. For example, a cook in the military and a cook in the private sector would receive different OCCSCORE values in 1990, even though they shared the same OCC code.

For years prior to 1960, OCCSCORE is based on OCC1950; for 1960 on, it is based on OCC. As explained in "Integrated Occupation and Industry Codes and Occupational Standing Variables in the IPUMS," occupations in the post-1950 period receive the score appropriate to the weighted combination of their various 1950 occupation components. Each OCC category also receives an OCC1950 code indicating where a majority of persons would have been classified in 1950. Because more than one OCC can get coded into a given OCC1950 category, OCCSCORE can vary within OCC1950 occupations for 1960 on.

Because 1850 and 1860 excluded slaves (and 1850 also excluded women), mean occupational income scores in those years are much higher than in other early census years.

ERSCOR50 is another OCC1950 based occupational economic score variable. The difference between ERSCOR50 and OCCSCORE is that OCCSCORE values for all available census years are based on income values from 1950. In ERSCOR50, each occupation's median earning value changes from year to year, based on the changing incomes of persons in that occupation.

User Caution: The translation of occupation codes into the 1950 classification is particularly problematic for 1980-2000 censuses, the ACS and the PRCS. Significant reorganizations of the occupational classification scheme by the Census Bureau in 1980 and again in 2000 mean that occupation scores in this period will be more distorted than for earlier decades. The difficulty is most acute for the 2000 census, the ACS and the PRCS, because the classification into the 1950 system was performed solely on the basis of the occupational titles without the benefit of supporting technical documentation.

Universe

Availability

• 2023: All samples
• 2022: All samples
• 2021: All samples
• 2020: All samples
• 2019: All samples
• 2018: All samples
• 2017: All samples
• 2016: All samples
• 2015: All samples
• 2014: All samples
• 2013: All samples
• 2012: All samples
• 2011: All samples
• 2010: ACS; ACS 3yr; ACS 5yr
• 2009: All samples
• 2008: All samples
• 2007: All samples
• 2006: All samples
• 2005: All samples
• 2004: All samples
• 2003: All samples
• 2002: All samples
• 2001: All samples
• 2000: All samples
• 1990: All samples
• 1980: All samples
• 1970: All samples
• 1960: All samples
• 1950: All samples
• 1940: All samples
• 1930: All samples
• 1920: All samples
• 1910: All samples
• 1900: All samples
• 1880: All samples
• 1870: All samples
• 1860: All samples
• 1850: All samples

• 2023: All samples
• 2022: All samples
• 2021: All samples
• 2020: All samples
• 2019: All samples
• 2018: All samples
• 2017: All samples
• 2016: All samples
• 2015: All samples
• 2014: All samples
• 2013: All samples
• 2012: All samples
• 2011: All samples
• 2010: PRCS; PRCS 3yr; PRCS 5yr
• 2009: All samples
• 2008: All samples
• 2007: All samples
• 2006: All samples
• 2005: All samples
• 2000: All samples
• 1990: All samples
• 1980: All samples
• 1970: All samples
• 1930: --
• 1920: All samples
• 1910: All samples

Flags

Editing Procedure

There is no editing procedure available for this variable.