In this paper we test for the existence of pathways of upward mobility for low wage workers by studying patterns of mobility in the 1996, 2001, and 2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Based on a theoretical model of skill sorting versus learning, we argue that “stepping stone” links of upward mobility can be identified by whether the accumulation of experience increases the probability of movement between these occupations. In contrast, a “dead end” job is one which both pays low wages and where the accumulation of occupational experience does not increase the rate of upward mobility. In order to identify stepping stone links of occupations with similar skill sets, we use data on occupational mobility from matched samples of the Current Population Survey (CPS) to identify pairs of occupations with significant patterns of mobility between them. We test these “stepping stone” links using data on the mobility of low-wage workers from the SIPP. Overall, our analysis is able to identify specific areas of the occupational distribution that are permeable to upward mobility out of low wages based on experience based skill accumulation. We find that occupational experience increases the probability of upward mobility to occupations with similar skill sets, which is consistent with a stepping stone model of wage mobility, and has no effect on the rate of mobility to dissimilar occupations. Finally, our occupation-level analysis is able to identify where specific groups of occupations fall on the dead endstepping stone job dichotomy.