Topcoding of Usual Hourly Earnings
The following information regarding topcodes for usual hourly earnings is adapted from section 2 of Unicon Corporation's Appendix H. This information is relevant to the IPUMS-CPS variable HOURWAGE and the unharmonized variable UH_ERNHR_B1.
Both HOURWAGE and UH_ERNHR_B1 will be topcoded based on an individual's usual hours worked (IPUMS-CPS variable UH_ERNUSH_B1) variable, if the individual's edited usual weekly earnings variable is $999. The topcode is computed such that the product of usual hours times usual hourly earnings does not exceed an annualized wage of $100,000 ($1923.07 per week) in the years 1985-2002 and $150,000 ($2885.00 per week in the years 2003 forward. Below is a general algorithm than may be used to figure top codes as well as a table that lists the appropriate topcodes as specified by the Census.
For the years 1979-1984, the topcode is $99.99.
For the years 1985-2002, for usual hours worked <20, the topcode is $99.99, and for usual hours worked 20+, the topcode is $1923.07/(usual hours worked)
| Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $99.99 | 26 | $73.96 | 51 | $37.70 | 76 | $25.30 |
| 2 | $99.99 | 27 | $71.22 | 52 | $36.98 | 77 | $24.97 |
| 3 | $99.99 | 28 | $68.68 | 53 | $36.28 | 78 | $24.65 |
| 4 | $99.99 | 29 | $66.31 | 54 | $35.61 | 79 | $24.34 |
| 5 | $99.99 | 30 | $64.10 | 55 | $34.96 | 80 | $24.03 |
| 6 | $99.99 | 31 | $62.03 | 56 | $34.34 | 81 | $23.74 |
| 7 | $99.99 | 32 | $60.09 | 57 | $33.73 | 82 | $23.45 |
| 8 | $99.99 | 33 | $58.27 | 58 | $33.15 | 83 | $23.16 |
| 9 | $99.99 | 34 | $56.56 | 59 | $32.59 | 84 | $22.89 |
| 10 | $99.99 | 35 | $54.94 | 60 | $32.05 | 85 | $22.62 |
| 11 | $99.99 | 36 | $53.41 | 61 | $31.52 | 86 | $22.36 |
| 12 | $99.99 | 37 | $51.97 | 62 | $31.01 | 87 | $22.10 |
| 13 | $99.99 | 38 | $50.60 | 63 | $30.52 | 88 | $21.85 |
| 14 | $99.99 | 39 | $49.30 | 64 | $30.04 | 89 | $21.60 |
| 15 | $99.99 | 40 | $48.07 | 65 | $29.58 | 90 | $21.36 |
| 16 | $99.99 | 41 | $46.90 | 66 | $29.13 | 91 | $21.13 |
| 17 | $99.99 | 42 | $45.78 | 67 | $28.70 | 92 | $20.90 |
| 18 | $99.99 | 43 | $44.72 | 68 | $28.28 | 93 | $20.67 |
| 19 | $99.99 | 44 | $43.70 | 69 | $27.87 | 94 | $20.45 |
| 20 | $96.15 | 45 | $42.73 | 70 | $27.47 | 95 | $20.24 |
| 21 | $91.57 | 46 | $41.80 | 71 | $27.08 | 96 | $20.03 |
| 22 | $87.41 | 47 | $40.91 | 72 | $26.70 | 97 | $19.82 |
| 23 | $83.61 | 48 | $40.06 | 73 | $26.34 | 98 | $19.62 |
| 24 | $80.12 | 49 | $39.24 | 74 | $25.98 | 99 | $19.42 |
| 25 | $76.92 | 50 | $38.46 | 75 | $25.64 |
For the years 2003 forward, for usual hours worked <29, the topcode is $99.99, and for usual hours worked 29+, the topcode is $2885.07/(usual hours worked)
| Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode | Hours | Topcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $99.99 | 26 | $99.99 | 51 | $56.57 | 76 | $37.96 |
| 2 | $99.99 | 27 | $99.99 | 52 | $55.48 | 77 | $37.47 |
| 3 | $99.99 | 28 | $99.99 | 53 | $54.43 | 78 | $36.99 |
| 4 | $99.99 | 29 | $99.48 | 54 | $53.43 | 79 | $36.52 |
| 5 | $99.99 | 30 | $96.17 | 55 | $52.45 | 80 | $36.06 |
| 6 | $99.99 | 31 | $93.06 | 56 | $51.52 | 81 | $35.62 |
| 7 | $99.99 | 32 | $90.16 | 57 | $50.61 | 82 | $35.18 |
| 8 | $99.99 | 33 | $87.42 | 58 | $49.74 | 83 | $34.76 |
| 9 | $99.99 | 34 | $84.85 | 59 | $48.90 | 84 | $34.35 |
| 10 | $99.99 | 35 | $82.43 | 60 | $48.08 | 85 | $33.94 |
| 11 | $99.99 | 36 | $80.14 | 61 | $47.30 | 86 | $33.55 |
| 12 | $99.99 | 37 | $77.97 | 62 | $46.53 | 87 | $33.16 |
| 13 | $99.99 | 38 | $75.92 | 63 | $45.79 | 88 | $32.78 |
| 14 | $99.99 | 39 | $73.97 | 64 | $45.08 | 89 | $32.42 |
| 15 | $99.99 | 40 | $72.13 | 65 | $44.38 | 90 | $32.06 |
| 16 | $99.99 | 41 | $70.37 | 66 | $43.71 | 91 | $31.70 |
| 17 | $99.99 | 42 | $68.69 | 67 | $43.06 | 92 | $31.36 |
| 18 | $99.99 | 43 | $67.09 | 68 | $42.43 | 93 | $31.02 |
| 19 | $99.99 | 44 | $65.57 | 69 | $41.81 | 94 | $30.69 |
| 20 | $99.99 | 45 | $64.11 | 70 | $41.21 | 95 | $30.37 |
| 21 | $99.99 | 46 | $62.72 | 71 | $40.63 | 96 | $30.05 |
| 22 | $99.99 | 47 | $61.38 | 72 | $40.07 | 97 | $29.74 |
| 23 | $99.99 | 48 | $60.10 | 73 | $39.52 | 98 | $29.44 |
| 24 | $99.99 | 49 | $58.88 | 74 | $38.99 | 99 | $29.14 |
| 25 | $99.99 | 50 | $57.70 | 75 | $38.47 |
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