You can download occupational percentile ranks for Census occupations 1950, 1990, and 2010 on this page.
The Occupational Percentile Rank measures changes in occupational structure over time caused by both changes in the size and educational composition of occupations. The index is developed using data from the U.S. Census and the American Community Surveys (1850-2018).
We construct the index by ranking occupations within each cohort based on educational attainment and occupational size. The resulting rank reflects how an occupation's socioeconomic status changes over time due to fluctuations in the composition and size of the labor force. The percentile ranks are flexible and can be easily integrated with existing occupational codes in survey data. The index is particularly useful for historical comparison of occupational status across multiple decades or generations.
Citation:
Song, Xi and Yu Xie. 2024. "Occupational Percentile Rank: A New Method for Constructing a Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status.” *Sociological Methods and Research* (Online First).
https://doi.org/10.1177/00491241231207914