The 117th U.S. Congress took office in January, with Democrats belongings narrow majorities in the Firm and Senate.

Apart from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other means, including its demographics. Hither are 7 charts that evidence how the demographic contour of Congress has changed over time, using historical data from CQ Roll Call, the Congressional Enquiry Service and other sources.

To decide the demographics of the 117th Congress, nosotros pulled data from recently published Pew Research Center analyses and other earlier work. Because not all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. 3, 2021, and considering some then-filled seats are now empty or changed easily 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. Data is drawn from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All data points reflect only voting members of Congress, except for the assay of women in the legislature.

Growing racial and ethnic diversity in Congress

The current Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse ever. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify equally Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American – making up 23% of Congress, including 26% of the House of Representatives and 11% of the Senate. By comparison, when the 79th Congress took office in 1945, non-White lawmakers represented just 1% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and ethnic diverseness, Congress remains less diverse than the nation as a whole: Not-Hispanic White Americans account for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably more than their lx% share of the U.Due south. 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.Most a century subsequently Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the starting time woman elected to Congress, there are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a tape 27% of all members across both chambers. (This includes half dozen nonvoting House members who correspond the Commune of Columbia and U.S. territories, iv of whom are women.)

A record 120 women are currently serving in the House, accounting for 27% of the chamber's total. In that location are 24 women in the Senate, one fewer than the tape number of seats they held in the last Congress. In four states – Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington – both senators are women, downward from six states in the previous Senate.

The Firm has seen slow but 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 than 3 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 state every bit 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 Business firm members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), up from 1% in the 115th Congress. A third of Firm lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen 10 (built-in from 1965 to 1980), up from 27% 2 Congresses earlier.

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

This yr saw the swearing-in of the first Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen 10 senators has gradually ticked upward from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 this twelvemonth.

While younger generations take increased their representation in Congress in recent years, older generations still account for the bulk of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) make up 53% of the House's voting membership, in add-on to 68 of the 100 senators.

The ranks of the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) take decreased in recent years, from ten%, or 42 members, at the start of the 115th Congress to 6%, or 27 members, in the current Congress.

The share of immigrants in Congress has ticked up just remains well beneath historical highs.There are 18 strange-built-in lawmakers in the 117th Congress, including 17 in the Business firm and simply one in the Senate: Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who was born in Japan.

Foreign-born share of Congress remains below historical highs

These lawmakers business relationship for 3% of legislators, slightly college than the share in other contempo Congresses only below the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for case, eight% of members were built-in away. The current share of foreign-built-in lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the U.Due south. as a whole, which was 13.6% as of 2019.

While the number of foreign-born lawmakers in the electric current Congress is small, more members accept at least i parent who was born in another country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants account for at least fourteen% 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 past. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the military at some point in their lives – the lowest number since at to the lowest degree World War 2, according to Military Times. There are more than twice as many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress every bit Democrats (28). Equal shares of senators and representatives (17%) have served in the military machine.

Fewer veterans in Congress

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

Looking at the longer term, there has been a dramatic decrease in members of Congress with armed services experience since the belatedly 20th century. Between 1965 and 1975, at to the lowest degree 70% of lawmakers in each legislative chamber had military experience. The share of members with military 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 do. In 2018, most 7% of U.Southward. adults had military experience, down from 18% in 1980, not long afterwards the cease of the armed services typhoon 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 college degree has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of Firm members and all senators have a bachelor'southward degree or more education. 2-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators have at least i graduate degree, too. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), by comparison, 56% of House members and 75% of senators had bachelor's degrees.

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

Congress has become slightly more religiously diverse over time.The electric current Congress includes the starting time two Muslim women ever to serve in the Business firm and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Research Center dating dorsum to 1961. Despite this reject, Christians are nonetheless overrepresented in Congress in proportion to their share of the public: Most 9-in-x congressional members are Christian (88%), compared with 65% of U.S. adults overall.

By contrast, religious "nones" are underrepresented in Congress in comparison with the U.S. population. While 26% of Americans say they are atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular," merely one lawmaker – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. – says she is religiously unaffiliated.

Changes in the religious makeup of Congress

Notation: This is an update to a post originally published on February. 2, 2017.