What Is The Demographic Makeup Of Congress

The 117th U.Southward. Congress took function in Jan, with Democrats belongings narrow majorities in the House and Senate.

Apart from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other means, including its demographics. Here are seven charts that show how the demographic profile of Congress has changed over fourth dimension, using historical data from CQ Roll Call, the Congressional Research Service and other sources.

To determine the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled data from recently published Pew Research Center analyses and other earlier work. Because not all members of the 117th Congress were seated on January. three, 2021, and because some and then-filled seats are at present empty or changed hands since that time, previously published data comes from several dates. For more than information on the methodology of previously published posts, please visit the original links, which are in the text of this post.

Data on the educational attainment of members of Congress includes the 532 voting members of the legislature equally of March 3. Information is fatigued from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All information points reflect merely voting members of Congress, except for the analysis of women in the legislature.

Growing racial and ethnic diversity in Congress

The current Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse e'er. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American – making upward 23% of Congress, including 26% of the House of Representatives and eleven% of the Senate. By comparison, when the 79th Congress took part in 1945, non-White lawmakers represented just 1% of the Business firm and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and ethnic multifariousness, Congress remains less diverse than the nation as a whole: Non-Hispanic White Americans business relationship for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably more than than their 60% share of the U.S. population.

Women make up more than a quarter of the 117th U.S. Congress' membership

The number of women in Congress is at an best high.Near a century later Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress, there are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a record 27% of all members beyond both chambers. (This includes six nonvoting Firm members who stand for the District of Columbia and U.Southward. territories, iv of whom are women.)

A tape 120 women are currently serving in the House, accounting for 27% of the sleeping room'south total. There are 24 women in the Senate, 1 fewer than the record number of seats they held in the terminal Congress. In four states – Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington – both senators are women, downwardly from six states in the previous Senate.

The House has seen irksome merely steady growth in the number of women members since the 1920s. Growth in the Senate has been slower: The Senate did not accept more than three women serving at any point until the 102nd Congress, which began in 1991. And the share of women in Congress remains far below their share in the country as a whole (27% vs. 51%).

The number of Millennials and Gen Xers in Congress has risen slightly in recent years. In the current Congress, 7% of House members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), up from i% in the 115th Congress. A tertiary of House lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen 10 (born from 1965 to 1980), up from 27% ii Congresses before.

Younger generations make up an increasing share of the U.S. Congress

This year saw the swearing-in of the starting time Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen X senators has gradually ticked up from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 this yr.

While younger generations take increased their representation in Congress in recent years, older generations yet account for the majority of lawmakers beyond both chambers. Babe Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) make upward 53% of the House's voting membership, in addition to 68 of the 100 senators.

The ranks of the Silent Generation (born betwixt 1928 and 1945) have decreased in recent years, from 10%, or 42 members, at the start of the 115th Congress to vi%, or 27 members, in the current Congress.

The share of immigrants in Congress has ticked up but remains well below historical highs.There are 18 strange-born lawmakers in the 117th Congress, including 17 in the Firm and only i in the Senate: Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who was born in Japan.

Foreign-born share of Congress remains below historical highs

These lawmakers account for 3% of legislators, slightly higher than the share in other recent Congresses but below the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for example, 8% of members were born abroad. The current share of strange-built-in lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the U.S. as a whole, which was 13.6% as of 2019.

While the number of foreign-built-in lawmakers in the current Congress is small, more members have at least one parent who was built-in in another country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants business relationship for at least xiv% of the new Congress, a slightly higher share than in the last Congress (13%).

Far fewer members of Congress now have direct military experience than in the by. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the armed services at some point in their lives – the lowest number since at least World War Two, according to Military Times. In that location are more than twice as many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress as Democrats (28). Equal shares of senators and representatives (17%) accept served in the war machine.

While the number and share of veterans in Congress overall accept decreased, the newly elected freshman class includes 15 such lawmakers.

Looking at the longer term, there has been a dramatic subtract in members of Congress with military experience since the tardily 20th century. Between 1965 and 1975, at least 70% of lawmakers in each legislative chamber had military experience. The share of members with armed forces experience peaked at 75% in 1967 for the House and at 81% in 1975 for the Senate.

While relatively few members of Congress today take military machine experience, an even smaller share of Americans practice. In 2018, almost vii% of U.S. adults had war machine experience, downwardly from 18% in 1980, not long later the end of the military draft era.

Almost every member of Congress now holds a college degree

The vast majority of members of Congress have higher degrees. The share of representatives and senators with a higher caste has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of Firm members and all senators have a bachelor's degree or more than education. Two-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators have at least one graduate caste, too. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), by comparison, 56% of House members and 75% of senators had bachelor'due south degrees.

The educational attainment of Congress far outpaces that of the overall U.Due south. population. In 2019, effectually a third (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a available's degree or more education, according to U.S. Census Agency data.

Congress has become slightly more religiously diverse over time.The current Congress includes the showtime two Muslim women ever to serve in the House and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Research Heart dating back to 1961. Despite this pass up, Christians are still overrepresented in Congress in proportion to their share of the public: Nearly nine-in-ten congressional members are Christian (88%), compared with 65% of U.S. adults overall.

Past contrast, religious "nones" are underrepresented in Congress in comparing with the U.S. population. While 26% of Americans say they are atheist, agnostic or "cipher in particular," but 1 lawmaker – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. – says she is religiously unaffiliated.