Data Dictionary: ACS 2020 (5-Year Estimates)
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Data Source:U.S. Census Bureau
Table: B24115. Detailed Occupation For The Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years And Over [566]
Universe: Universe: Civilian employed male population 16 years and over
Table Details
B24115. Detailed Occupation For The Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years And Over
Universe: Universe: Civilian employed male population 16 years and over
VariableLabel
B24115001
B24115002
B24115003
B24115004
B24115005
B24115006
B24115007
B24115008
B24115009
B24115010
B24115011
B24115012
B24115013
B24115014
B24115015
B24115016
B24115017
B24115018
B24115019
B24115020
B24115021
B24115022
B24115023
B24115024
B24115025
B24115026
B24115027
B24115028
B24115029
B24115030
B24115031
B24115032
B24115033
B24115034
B24115035
B24115036
B24115037
B24115038
B24115039
B24115040
B24115041
B24115042
B24115043
B24115044
B24115045
B24115046
B24115047
B24115048
B24115049
B24115050
B24115051
B24115052
B24115053
B24115054
B24115055
B24115056
B24115057
B24115058
B24115059
B24115060
B24115061
B24115062
B24115063
B24115064
B24115065
B24115066
B24115067
B24115068
B24115069
B24115070
B24115071
B24115072
B24115073
B24115074
B24115075
B24115076
B24115077
B24115078
B24115079
B24115080
B24115081
B24115082
B24115083
B24115084
B24115085
B24115086
B24115087
B24115088
B24115089
B24115090
B24115091
B24115092
B24115093
B24115094
B24115095
B24115096
B24115097
B24115098
B24115099
B24115100
B24115101
B24115102
B24115103
B24115104
B24115105
B24115106
B24115107
B24115108
B24115109
B24115110
B24115111
B24115112
B24115113
B24115114
B24115115
B24115116
B24115117
B24115118
B24115119
B24115120
B24115121
B24115122
B24115123
B24115124
B24115125
B24115126
B24115127
B24115128
B24115129
B24115130
B24115131
B24115132
B24115133
B24115134
B24115135
B24115136
B24115137
B24115138
B24115139
B24115140
B24115141
B24115142
B24115143
B24115144
B24115145
B24115146
B24115147
B24115148
B24115149
B24115150
B24115151
B24115152
B24115153
B24115154
B24115155
B24115156
B24115157
B24115158
B24115159
B24115160
B24115161
B24115162
B24115163
B24115164
B24115165
B24115166
B24115167
B24115168
B24115169
B24115170
B24115171
B24115172
B24115173
B24115174
B24115175
B24115176
B24115177
B24115178
B24115179
B24115180
B24115181
B24115182
B24115183
B24115184
B24115185
B24115186
B24115187
B24115188
B24115189
B24115190
B24115191
B24115192
B24115193
B24115194
B24115195
B24115196
B24115197
B24115198
B24115199
B24115200
B24115201
B24115202
B24115203
B24115204
B24115205
B24115206
B24115207
B24115208
B24115209
B24115210
B24115211
B24115212
B24115213
B24115214
B24115215
B24115216
B24115217
B24115218
B24115219
B24115220
B24115221
B24115222
B24115223
B24115224
B24115225
B24115226
B24115227
B24115228
B24115229
B24115230
B24115231
B24115232
B24115233
B24115234
B24115235
B24115236
B24115237
B24115238
B24115239
B24115240
B24115241
B24115242
B24115243
B24115244
B24115245
B24115246
B24115247
B24115248
B24115249
B24115250
B24115251
B24115252
B24115253
B24115254
B24115255
B24115256
B24115257
B24115258
B24115259
B24115260
B24115261
B24115262
B24115263
B24115264
B24115265
B24115266
B24115267
B24115268
B24115269
B24115270
B24115271
B24115272
B24115273
B24115274
B24115275
B24115276
B24115277
B24115278
B24115279
B24115280
B24115281
B24115282
B24115283
B24115284
B24115285
B24115286
B24115287
B24115288
B24115289
B24115290
B24115291
B24115292
B24115293
B24115294
B24115295
B24115296
B24115297
B24115298
B24115299
B24115300
B24115301
B24115302
B24115303
B24115304
B24115305
B24115306
B24115307
B24115308
B24115309
B24115310
B24115311
B24115312
B24115313
B24115314
B24115315
B24115316
B24115317
B24115318
B24115319
B24115320
B24115321
B24115322
B24115323
B24115324
B24115325
B24115326
B24115327
B24115328
B24115329
B24115330
B24115331
B24115332
B24115333
B24115334
B24115335
B24115336
B24115337
B24115338
B24115339
B24115340
B24115341
B24115342
B24115343
B24115344
B24115345
B24115346
B24115347
B24115348
B24115349
B24115350
B24115351
B24115352
B24115353
B24115354
B24115355
B24115356
B24115357
B24115358
B24115359
B24115360
B24115361
B24115362
B24115363
B24115364
B24115365
B24115366
B24115367
B24115368
B24115369
B24115370
B24115371
B24115372
B24115373
B24115374
B24115375
B24115376
B24115377
B24115378
B24115379
B24115380
B24115381
B24115382
B24115383
B24115384
B24115385
B24115386
B24115387
B24115388
B24115389
B24115390
B24115391
B24115392
B24115393
B24115394
B24115395
B24115396
B24115397
B24115398
B24115399
B24115400
B24115401
B24115402
B24115403
B24115404
B24115405
B24115406
B24115407
B24115408
B24115409
B24115410
B24115411
B24115412
B24115413
B24115414
B24115415
B24115416
B24115417
B24115418
B24115419
B24115420
B24115421
B24115422
B24115423
B24115424
B24115425
B24115426
B24115427
B24115428
B24115429
B24115430
B24115431
B24115432
B24115433
B24115434
B24115435
B24115436
B24115437
B24115438
B24115439
B24115440
B24115441
B24115442
B24115443
B24115444
B24115445
B24115446
B24115447
B24115448
B24115449
B24115450
B24115451
B24115452
B24115453
B24115454
B24115455
B24115456
B24115457
B24115458
B24115459
B24115460
B24115461
B24115462
B24115463
B24115464
B24115465
B24115466
B24115467
B24115468
B24115469
B24115470
B24115471
B24115472
B24115473
B24115474
B24115475
B24115476
B24115477
B24115478
B24115479
B24115480
B24115481
B24115482
B24115483
B24115484
B24115485
B24115486
B24115487
B24115488
B24115489
B24115490
B24115491
B24115492
B24115493
B24115494
B24115495
B24115496
B24115497
B24115498
B24115499
B24115500
B24115501
B24115502
B24115503
B24115504
B24115505
B24115506
B24115507
B24115508
B24115509
B24115510
B24115511
B24115512
B24115513
B24115514
B24115515
B24115516
B24115517
B24115518
B24115519
B24115520
B24115521
B24115522
B24115523
B24115524
B24115525
B24115526
B24115527
B24115528
B24115529
B24115530
B24115531
B24115532
B24115533
B24115534
B24115535
B24115536
B24115537
B24115538
B24115539
B24115540
B24115541
B24115542
B24115543
B24115544
B24115545
B24115546
B24115547
B24115548
B24115549
B24115550
B24115551
B24115552
B24115553
B24115554
B24115555
B24115556
B24115557
B24115558
B24115559
B24115560
B24115561
B24115562
B24115563
B24115564
B24115565
B24115566
Relevant Documentation:
Excerpt from: Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; 2020 ACS 1-year and 2016-2020 ACS 5-year Data Releases : Technical Documentation.
 
Occupation
Occupation describes the kind of work a person does on the job. Occupation data were derived from answers to questions 45 and 46 in the 2013 American Community Survey. Question 45 asks: "What kind of work was this person doing?" Question 46 asks: "What were this person's most important activities or duties?"

These questions were asked of all people 15 years old and over who had worked in the past 5 years. For employed people, the data refer to the person's job during the previous week. For those who worked two or more jobs, the data refer to the job where the person worked the greatest number of hours. For unemployed people and people who are not currently employed but report having a job within the last five years, the data refer to their last job.

These questions describe the work activity and occupational experience of the American labor force. Data are used to formulate policy and programs for employment, career development and training; to provide information on the occupational skills of the labor force in a given area to analyze career trends; and to measure compliance with antidiscrimination policies. Companies use these data to decide where to locate new plants, stores, or offices.

Coding Procedures - Occupation statistics are compiled from data that are coded based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual: 2020 (http://www.bls.gov/soc), published by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. Census occupation codes, based on the 2020 SOC, provide 569 specific occupational categories, for employed people, including military, arranged into 23 major occupational groups, plus an additional Census code for the unemployed, with no work experience in the last 5 years or earlier or never worked for a total of 570 Census occupation codes.

Respondents provided the data for the tabulations by writing on the questionnaires descriptions of the kind of work and activities they are doing. These write-ins are converted to a code category through automated coding. Cases not autocoded on both industry and occupation are sent to the clerical staff in the National Processing Center (NPC) in Jeffersonville, Indiana, who assign codes by comparing these descriptions to entries in the Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations (https://www.census.gov/topics/employment/industry-occupation/guidance/indexes.html).

Some occupation groups are related closely to certain industries. Operators of transportation equipment, farm operators and workers, and healthcare providers account for major portions of their respective industries of transportation, agriculture, and health care. However, the industry categories include people in other occupations. For example, people employed in agriculture include truck drivers and bookkeepers; people employed in the transportation industry include mechanics, freight handlers, and payroll clerks; and people employed in the health care industry include janitors, security guards, and secretaries.

Editing Procedures - Following the coding operation, a computer edit and allocation process excludes all responses that should not be included in the universe, and evaluates the consistency of the remaining responses. The codes for occupation are checked for consistency with the industry and class of worker data provided for that respondent. Occasionally respondents supply occupation descriptions that are not sufficiently specific for precise classification, or they do not report on these questions at all. Certain types of incomplete entries are corrected using the Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. If one or more of the three codes (occupation, industry, or class of worker) is blank after the edit, a code is assigned from a donor respondent who is a "similar" person based on questions such as age, sex, educational attainment, income, employment status, and weeks worked. If all of the labor force and income data are blank, all of these economic questions are assigned from a "similar" person who had provided all the necessary data.

Question/Concept History - OOccupation data have been collected during decennial censuses since 1850. Starting with the 2010 Census, occupation data was no longer collected during the decennial census. Long form data collection has transitioned to the ACS. The ACS began collecting data on occupation in 1996. The questions on occupation were designed to be consistent with the 1990 Census questions on occupation. ACS questions on occupation have remained consistent between 1996 and 2020.

Limitation of the Data - Beginning in 2006, the population in group quarters (GQ) was included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations have occupational distributions that are different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the occupational distribution in some geographic areas with a substantial GQ population.

Data on occupation, industry, and class of worker are collected for the respondent's current primary job or the most recent job for those who are not employed but have worked in the last 5 years. Other labor force questions, such as questions on earnings or work hours, may have different reference periods and may not limit the response to the primary job. Although the prevalence of multiple jobs is low, data on some labor force items may not exactly correspond to the reported occupation, industry, or class of worker of a respondent.

Comparability - Comparability of occupation data was affected by a number of factors, primarily the system used to classify the questionnaire responses. Changes in the occupational classification system limit comparability of the data from one year to another. These changes are needed to recognize the "birth" of new occupations, the "death" of others, the growth and decline in existing occupations, and the desire of analysts and other users for more detail in the presentation of the data. Probably the greatest cause of noncomparability is the movement of a segment from one category to another. Changes in the nature of jobs, respondent terminology, and refinement of category composition made these movements necessary.

ACS data from 1996 to 1999 used the same occupation classification systems used for the 1990 Census; therefore, the data are comparable. Since 1990, the occupation classification has been revised to reflect changes within the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). The SOC was updated in 2000 and these changes were reflected in the Census 2000 occupation codes. For more information on occupational comparability across classification systems, please see technical paper #65: The Relationship Between the 1990 Census and Census 2000 Industry and Occupation Classification Systems (https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/workingpapers/2003/demo/techpaper2000.pdf). The 2000-2002 ACS data used the same occupation classification systems used for Census 2000; therefore, the data are comparable. Because of the possibility of new occupations being added to the list of codes, the Census Bureau needed to have more flexibility in adding codes. Consequently, in 2002, Census occupation codes were expanded from three-digit codes to four-digit codes. For occupation, this entailed adding a "0" to the end of each occupation code. The SOC was revised once more in 2010. Based on the 2010 SOC changes, Census codes were revised resulting in a net gain of 30 Census occupation codes (from 510 occupations to 540 occupations). Most of these changes were concentrated in information technology, healthcare, printing, and human resources occupations. The SOC was revised once again in 2020. Based on the 2020 SOC changes, the Census codes were revised resulting in a net gain of 30 Census occupation codes (from 540 occupations to 570 occupations). The 2020 Census occupation codes were first applied to the 2020 ACS. The 2020 Census occupation codes changes These substantive changes across multiple occupation groups make the 2020 Census occupation codes non-comparable with previous years without the use of the occupation crosswalk and conversion rates. For information on the 2020 SOC and Census occupation codes, please see the 2020 Census Occupation Codes with Crosswalk document, which includes the summary of 2020 changes and the Census 2010 to 2020 occupation codes crosswalk on the Industry and Occupation Code Lists & Crosswalks page (https://www.census.gov/topics/employment/industryoccupation/guidance/code-lists.html).

For more information, see the Census Occupation Code List found within the 2020 ACS Code List. Go to https://data.census.gov. and enter "ACS Code Lists, Definitions, and Accuracy" in the search box.

See also, Industry and Class of Worker.
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