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

Autonomously from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other means, including its demographics. Here are vii charts that show how the demographic contour of Congress has changed over time, using historical data from CQ Scroll Telephone call, the Congressional Research Service and other sources.

To decide the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled data from recently published Pew Research Eye analyses and other earlier work. Because not all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. 3, 2021, and because some then-filled seats are now empty or inverse hands since that time, previously published data comes from several dates. For more data on the methodology of previously published posts, please visit the original links, which are in the text of this postal service.

Data on the educational attainment of members of Congress includes the 532 voting members of the legislature as of March iii. Data is drawn from the U.Due south. 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 electric current Congress is the nearly racially and ethnically diverse always. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American – making upwardly 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, not-White lawmakers represented just one% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and indigenous diversity, Congress remains less various than the nation every bit a whole: Non-Hispanic White Americans account for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably more 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 all-fourth dimension high.Nearly a century after Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress, at that place are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a tape 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 House, accounting for 27% of the chamber'south full. There are 24 women in the Senate, ane 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 half-dozen states in the previous Senate.

The House 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 have more 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 country as a whole (27% vs. 51%).

The number of Millennials and Gen Xers in Congress has risen slightly in recent years. In the electric current Congress, 7% of House members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (built-in betwixt 1981 and 1996), up from 1% in the 115th Congress. A third of Business firm lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen Ten (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 first Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen X senators has gradually ticked up from xvi in the 115th Congress to 20 this year.

While younger generations have increased their representation in Congress in recent years, older generations still account for the bulk of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born betwixt 1946 and 1964) brand upwards 53% of the Business firm'due south voting membership, in addition to 68 of the 100 senators.

The ranks of the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) have decreased in contempo years, from 10%, 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 but remains well below historical highs.There are 18 foreign-born 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 but below the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for example, eight% of members were born abroad. The electric current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is as well far below the foreign-born share of the U.S. as a whole, which was 13.vi% as of 2019.

While the number of foreign-born lawmakers in the current Congress is small-scale, more than members have at to the lowest degree one parent who was built-in in another country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants account for at least 14% 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 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 as many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress every bit Democrats (28). Equal shares of senators and representatives (17%) take 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 grade includes 15 such lawmakers.

Looking at the longer term, at that place has been a dramatic decrease in members of Congress with military feel since the late 20th century. Betwixt 1965 and 1975, at to the lowest degree 70% of lawmakers in each legislative sleeping accommodation 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 have military machine experience, an fifty-fifty smaller share of Americans do. In 2018, almost seven% of U.S. adults had armed services experience, down from xviii% in 1980, non long after the end of the military draft era.

Almost every member of Congress now holds a college degree

The vast majority of members of Congress accept college degrees. The share of representatives and senators with a college caste has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of House members and all senators accept a bachelor'due south degree or more education. Ii-thirds of representatives and 3-quarters of senators have at least ane graduate degree, too. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), past comparison, 56% of Business firm members and 75% of senators had bachelor'south degrees.

The educational attainment of Congress far outpaces that of the overall U.S. population. In 2019, effectually a third (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a available'due south degree or more than education, according to U.Southward. Demography Bureau 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 Enquiry Middle dating back to 1961. Despite this decline, Christians are withal overrepresented in Congress in proportion to their share of the public: About nine-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, doubter or "nothing in particular," merely 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.