Measurement of intrinsic and injected impurity concentrations and transport in tokamak plasmas by x‐ray pulse‐height analysis (PHA) and x‐ray imaging (XI) diode arrays requires reliable excitation rates for a number of charge states of a range of elements (Al, Se, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Ge, etc.). Previous PHA measurements at Princeton have relied on a coronal‐equilibrium average of excitation rates for iron, and a prescription for scaling the average rate to nearby elements. For improved accuracy in PHA measurements (using the MIST impurity equilibrium and transport code) and for interpretation of XI data (using an x‐ray simulation code), rates for excitation of dominant charge states by electron impact, dielectronic recombination, and radiative recombination have been calculated from available atomic data and parametrized as a function of atomic number (Z=10–42) and electron temperature (Te=0.1–10.0 keV).