The 117th U.Southward. Congress took office in January, with Democrats property 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 vii charts that show how the demographic contour of Congress has changed over time, using historical information from CQ Coil Call, the Congressional Enquiry Service and other sources.

To determine the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled data from recently published Pew Research Center analyses and other before work. Because non all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. three, 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 post.

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

All information points reverberate 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 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 xi% of the Senate. By comparison, when the 79th Congress took part in 1945, not-White lawmakers represented simply i% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and ethnic diversity, Congress remains less diverse than the nation every bit a whole: Non-Hispanic White Americans business relationship 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-time loftier.Almost a century after Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the outset woman elected to Congress, at that place are 144 women in the national legislature, bookkeeping for a record 27% of all members across both chambers. (This includes 6 nonvoting Business firm members who stand for the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, four of whom are women.)

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

The Business firm has seen tedious just 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 three women serving at any point until the 102nd Congress, which began in 1991. And the share of women in Congress remains far beneath their share in the country as a whole (27% vs. 51%).

The number of Millennials and Gen Xers in Congress has risen slightly in contempo years. In the electric current Congress, seven% of Business firm members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), upwardly from 1% in the 115th Congress. A third of House lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen X (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 year saw the swearing-in of the first Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen X senators has gradually ticked upward from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 this twelvemonth.

While younger generations have increased their representation in Congress in recent years, older generations still business relationship for the majority of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born betwixt 1946 and 1964) make up 53% of the House'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.In that location are eighteen strange-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 contempo 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 electric current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is as well far beneath the foreign-born share of the U.South. as a whole, which was xiii.half dozen% every bit of 2019.

While the number of strange-born lawmakers in the current Congress is modest, more than members take at to the lowest degree one parent who was born 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 terminal Congress (xiii%).

Far fewer members of Congress now have straight armed forces experience than in the by. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the military machine at some point in their lives – the everyman number since at to the lowest degree Globe War II, according to War machine Times. In that location are more than than twice every bit many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress as 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 accept decreased, the newly elected freshman class includes 15 such lawmakers.

Looking at the longer term, in that location has been a dramatic decrease in members of Congress with military experience since the late 20th century. Between 1965 and 1975, at least 70% of lawmakers in each legislative sleeping room had war machine experience. The share of members with armed services 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 experience, an even smaller share of Americans do. In 2018, about vii% of U.S. adults had military experience, downwards from 18% in 1980, non long after the terminate of the armed forces 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 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. Two-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators have at to the lowest degree one graduate degree, as well. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), by comparing, 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, effectually a third (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a bachelor'southward degree or more education, according to U.S. Census 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 Business firm and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Research Middle 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.

By dissimilarity, 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 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 mail service originally published on Feb. 2, 2017.