The 117th U.S. Congress took function in Jan, with Democrats property 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. Here are seven charts that show how the demographic profile of Congress has changed over time, 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 Heart 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 fourth dimension, previously published data comes from several dates. For more 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 every bit of March 3. Data is fatigued 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 analysis of women in the legislature.

Growing racial and ethnic diversity in Congress

The current Congress is the almost racially and ethnically various e'er. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American – making upwards 23% of Congress, including 26% of the Firm of Representatives and 11% of the Senate. By comparison, when the 79th Congress took function in 1945, non-White lawmakers represented simply 1% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and indigenous variety, Congress remains less various than the nation every bit a whole: Not-Hispanic White Americans business relationship for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably more than than their sixty% 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 all-fourth dimension high.About a century subsequently Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the outset adult female elected to Congress, there are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a record 27% of all members across both chambers. (This includes six nonvoting House members who represent the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, four of whom are women.)

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

The Business firm has seen dull simply steady growth in the number of women members since the 1920s. Growth in the Senate has been slower: The Senate did not take more than three women serving at any indicate until the 102nd Congress, which began in 1991. And the share of women in Congress remains far beneath their share in the state 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 Firm members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born betwixt 1981 and 1996), upward from 1% in the 115th Congress. A third of House lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen X (born from 1965 to 1980), up from 27% two Congresses earlier.

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

This year saw the swearing-in of the beginning Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen X senators has gradually ticked upwardly from sixteen in the 115th Congress to 20 this twelvemonth.

While younger generations have increased their representation in Congress in recent years, older generations withal account for the majority of lawmakers beyond both chambers. Baby Boomers (born betwixt 1946 and 1964) brand up 53% of the Business firm's voting membership, in add-on to 68 of the 100 senators.

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

The share of immigrants in Congress has ticked up merely remains well below historical highs.There are eighteen foreign-built-in lawmakers in the 117th Congress, including 17 in the House and just 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 account for 3% of legislators, slightly higher than the share in other recent Congresses just beneath the shares in much before Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for example, 8% of members were born abroad. The current share of foreign-built-in lawmakers in Congress is besides far below the strange-born share of the U.Southward. as a whole, which was thirteen.half dozen% every bit of 2019.

While the number of foreign-built-in lawmakers in the current Congress is small, more members accept at to the lowest degree one parent who was born in another land. 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 feel 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 least World State of war II, according to Military Times. There are more than twice every bit many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress every bit Democrats (28). Equal shares of senators and representatives (17%) have served in the military.

Fewer veterans in Congress

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

Looking at the longer term, there has been a dramatic decrease in members of Congress with war machine experience since the late 20th century. Betwixt 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 Firm and at 81% in 1975 for the Senate.

While relatively few members of Congress today accept military experience, an even smaller share of Americans do. In 2018, about 7% of U.South. adults had war machine feel, downwards from 18% in 1980, not long after the end of the armed forces draft era.

Almost every member of Congress now holds a college degree

The vast majority of members of Congress have college degrees. The share of representatives and senators with a higher degree has steadily increased over fourth dimension. In the 117th Congress, 94% of House members and all senators take a bachelor'south caste or more teaching. 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'southward degrees.

The educational attainment of Congress far outpaces that of the overall U.South. population. In 2019, around a third (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a available's caste or more instruction, according to U.S. Demography Agency information.

Congress has become slightly more religiously diverse over time.The electric current Congress includes the offset two Muslim women ever to serve in the House and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Research Center dating back to 1961. Despite this turn down, Christians are withal overrepresented in Congress in proportion to their share of the public: Virtually nine-in-x congressional members are Christian (88%), compared with 65% of U.South. 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 "nada in particular," just one lawmaker – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. – says she is religiously unaffiliated.

Changes in the religious makeup of Congress

Note: This is an update to a post originally published on Feb. 2, 2017.