The 117th U.South. Congress took office in January, with Democrats property 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. Here are seven charts that show how the demographic profile of Congress has inverse over time, using historical data from CQ Whorl Phone call, the Congressional Research Service and other sources.

To determine the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled information from recently published Pew Enquiry Center analyses and other earlier 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 changed hands since that time, 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 equally of March 3. Data is drawn from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All information 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 most racially and ethnically diverse always. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify every bit 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. Past comparison, when the 79th Congress took office in 1945, not-White lawmakers represented simply 1% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and indigenous multifariousness, Congress remains less various 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.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.Well-nigh a century after Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the beginning woman 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.Due south. territories, four of whom are women.)

A tape 120 women are currently serving in the House, accounting for 27% of the sleeping accommodation's total. There are 24 women in the Senate, one fewer than the record number of seats they held in the final Congress. In 4 states – Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington – both senators are women, downward from six 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 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 recent years. In the current Congress, seven% of House members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born between 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% ii 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 Ten senators has gradually ticked up from 16 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 majority of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) make up 53% of the House'south voting membership, in improver 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 start of the 115th Congress to 6%, or 27 members, in the current Congress.

The share of immigrants in Congress has ticked upwardly but remains well beneath historical highs.At that place are xviii strange-born lawmakers in the 117th Congress, including 17 in the Business firm and just ane 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 but below the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for example, viii% of members were born abroad. The electric current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the U.S. equally a whole, which was 13.half-dozen% every bit of 2019.

While the number of foreign-built-in lawmakers in the current Congress is pocket-sized, more than members accept at to the lowest degree one parent who was born in another 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 final Congress (thirteen%).

Far fewer members of Congress at present have direct armed forces experience than in the past. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the military machine at some point in their lives – the everyman number since at least World War Ii, co-ordinate 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.

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, 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 lxx% of lawmakers in each legislative sleeping accommodation had military feel. The share of members with military feel peaked at 75% in 1967 for the Firm 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, almost 7% of U.Southward. adults had war machine experience, down from eighteen% in 1980, not long later the end of the armed forces typhoon 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 higher caste has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of Business firm members and all senators have a bachelor's degree or more instruction. Two-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators have at to the lowest degree ane 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 bachelor's degree or more than education, according to U.Southward. Census Bureau information.

Congress has go slightly more religiously various over time.The current Congress includes the first two Muslim women always to serve in the Firm and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Inquiry Heart dating back to 1961. Despite this decline, Christians are nonetheless 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.Southward. adults overall.

Past 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," just one 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 post originally published on February. two, 2017.