Does there exist "swap values" for top-coded income variables?

USA
1

Hi,

There exists “swap values” that can be merged with the CPS files in order to replace top-coded income and obtain more accurate measures of income inequality. Is there an equivalent file for the census data? I cannot find a corresponding file for census data.

Thank you very much!

2

Unlike the CPS data, the Census data does not use the same data swapping method for incomes that exceed the top-coded value. The data is simply top-coded. Thus, a similar file does not exist.

Also note that for the ACS samples (starting in 2000), topcodes represent the state means of values exceeding the topcode, which is also state-based. You can find the top-coded values at the Other Variable Appendices page.

Hope this helps.