Sources: Author, calculated using 1980, 1990, and 2000 Census IPUMS files; American Community Survey
combined file 2006–2008, American Community Survey 2012.
Notes: The figure plots changes in mean log wages over each period, by 1979 occupational skill percentile
rank using a locally weighted smoothing regression (bandwidth 0.8 with 100 observations), where skill
percentiles are measured as the employment-weighted percentile rank of an occupation’s mean log
wage in the Census IPUMS 1980 5 percent extract. The sample includes the working-age (1–64) civilian
non-institutionalized population with 48+ annual weeks worked and 35+ usual weekly hours. Weekly
wages are calculated as annual earnings divided by weeks worked.