# CPS occupation code change in 2012 - crosswalk?

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [May 27, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323 "2016-05-27T14:16:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mmmb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@mmmb](https://forum.ipums.org/u/mmmb)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323/1 "2016-05-27T14:16:00Z")

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It seems the CPS coding of occupations changed slightly in May 2012 (noted in Appendix B [here](https://cps.ipums.org/cps/resources/codebooks/cpsmar13.pdf) and elsewhere). This makes the SOC-Census crosswalk available on the BLS website ([link](http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsoccind.htm)) obsolete. Is there an updated version of this crosswalk available anywhere? I’ve found crosswalks for the ACS (which was similarly modified in 2013), from both Census and IPUMS, but I haven’t found a simlar update for CPS. Does this exist somewhere? Thanks!

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**Author:** ![grover](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/grover/32/5_2.png) [@grover](https://forum.ipums.org/u/grover)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323/2 "2016-06-02T17:45:00Z")

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I am afraid I may be misunderstanding your question. Appendix B of the pdf document you linked to also includes a 2010 SOC code column on the right hand side of the page which gives the corresponding SOC code for the updated Census occupation codes listed along the left-hand side of the page. Is this different from the crosswalk you are looking for?

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**Author:** ![grover](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/grover/32/5_2.png) [@grover](https://forum.ipums.org/u/grover)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323/3 "2016-06-02T19:57:00Z")

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I see. Unfortunately, this is the only resource that I know of directly relating to the CPS. I believe the convention is that the XX’s represent all other unused codes (though this is not a very easily interpreted notation). The ACS coding you referenced earlier should apply to these CPS OCC codes as they are both using the Census Occupation codes. I have not done a complete comparison of the two files, but this [OCC to OCCSOC crosswalk](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/acs_occtooccsoc10.shtml) (which includes the XX codes) seems to be identical to the on in Appendix B of the ASEC documentation you linked to.

I hope this helps.

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**Author:** ![mmmb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@mmmb](https://forum.ipums.org/u/mmmb)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/cps-occupation-code-change-in-2012-crosswalk/1323/4 "2016-06-07T16:35:00Z")

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The OCC to OCCSOC crosswalk for ACS is not the same coding as in the CPS, though they are close. I eventually found what I was looking for on the BLS website. It is the file " 2014 National Employment Matrix/SOC to CPS Crosswalk". This lines up exactly with the CPS codebook, except for one SOC 17-2021 which is classified into 1340 in the codebook and 1530 in the crosswalk.