The 117th U.Due south. Congress took office in January, with Democrats belongings narrow majorities in the House and Senate.

Autonomously from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other ways, including its demographics. Hither are seven charts that show how the demographic profile of Congress has changed over time, using historical information from CQ Roll Phone 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. Considering non all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. three, 2021, and because some then-filled seats are now empty or changed hands since that time, previously published information 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 as of March iii. Data is fatigued from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All data points reflect simply 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 ever. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify as 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 merely 1% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and indigenous diversity, 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 60% 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 all-fourth dimension high.About a century later Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first 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 vi nonvoting Business firm 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 record 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 House has seen slow just 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 whatever bespeak 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 Business firm members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born betwixt 1981 and 1996), up from 1% in the 115th Congress. A third of 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 beginning Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen Ten senators has gradually ticked up from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 this year.

While younger generations accept increased their representation in Congress in contempo years, older generations still business relationship for the majority of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) make up 53% of the House's voting membership, in improver to 68 of the 100 senators.

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

The share of immigrants in Congress has ticked upwardly but remains well below historical highs.At that place 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 three% of legislators, slightly higher than the share in other recent Congresses simply below the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for instance, eight% of members were built-in abroad. The current share of foreign-built-in lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the U.South. as a whole, which was 13.6% as of 2019.

While the number of strange-born lawmakers in the electric current Congress is small, more members have at to the lowest degree one parent who was born in some other country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants account for at to the lowest degree 14% of the new Congress, a slightly higher share than in the last Congress (13%).

Far fewer members of Congress now take direct armed forces 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 least Globe State of war II, according to Military Times. There 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 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 subtract in members of Congress with military experience since the belatedly 20th century. Between 1965 and 1975, at least 70% of lawmakers in each legislative chamber had military experience. The share of members with military machine experience peaked at 75% in 1967 for the House and at 81% in 1975 for the Senate.

While relatively few members of Congress today accept military experience, an even smaller share of Americans practice. In 2018, about vii% of U.S. adults had military experience, downwardly from eighteen% in 1980, not long after the end of the armed services draft era.

Almost every member of Congress now holds a college degree

The vast bulk of members of Congress have college degrees. The share of representatives and senators with a college degree has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of House members and all senators have a bachelor'southward degree or more education. Two-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators have at least one graduate degree, too. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), by comparison, 56% of Firm 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 bachelor'southward degree or more than didactics, according to U.S. Demography Bureau data.

Congress has become slightly more religiously diverse over time.The current Congress includes the first two Muslim women ever to serve in the Firm and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed past Pew Research Eye dating back to 1961. Despite this decline, 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.

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," but i lawmaker – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. – says she is religiously unaffiliated.

Changes in the religious makeup of Congress

Annotation: This is an update to a mail service originally published on February. 2, 2017.