The 117th U.S. Congress took office in January, with Democrats property narrow majorities in the Firm and Senate.

Apart from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other ways, including its demographics. Here are 7 charts that show how the demographic profile of Congress has changed over fourth dimension, using historical data from CQ Gyre Call, the Congressional Research Service and other sources.

To make up one's mind the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled data from recently published Pew Research Centre analyses and other earlier piece of work. Because not all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. 3, 2021, and because some so-filled seats are now empty or changed easily 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 equally of March three. Data is drawn from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All data points reflect just 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 virtually racially and ethnically various always. Overall, 124 lawmakers identify as Blackness, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American – making up 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 just one% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and ethnic multifariousness, Congress remains less diverse than the nation as 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.Southward. 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.Near a century after Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the beginning adult female elected to Congress, there are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a tape 27% of all members across both chambers. (This includes vi nonvoting Business firm members who correspond the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, iv of whom are women.)

A record 120 women are currently serving in the House, accounting for 27% of the chamber'southward full. There are 24 women in the Senate, 1 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 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 accept more than 3 women serving at whatever betoken until the 102nd Congress, which began in 1991. And the share of women in Congress remains far beneath their share in the country equally a whole (27% vs. 51%).

The number of Millennials and Gen Xers in Congress has risen slightly in contempo years. In the current Congress, vii% of House members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born betwixt 1981 and 1996), upwards 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 first Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen Ten 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 nonetheless business relationship for the bulk of lawmakers across both chambers. Baby Boomers (born between 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 (built-in between 1928 and 1945) accept decreased in contempo years, from x%, or 42 members, at the offset of the 115th Congress to six%, 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 18 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 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, 8% of members were born abroad. The current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-built-in share of the U.Southward. every bit a whole, which was 13.vi% as of 2019.

While the number of foreign-born lawmakers in the electric current Congress is modest, more members have at least one parent who was born in another country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants business relationship for at to the lowest degree xiv% of the new Congress, a slightly higher share than in the last Congress (xiii%).

Far fewer members of Congress now have direct armed services experience than in the past. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the military at some signal in their lives – the lowest number since at to the lowest degree World State of war Two, according to War machine Times. There are more twice as many Republican veterans (63) in the new Congress equally 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, there 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 bedroom had military experience. The share of members with military machine experience peaked at 75% in 1967 for the Business 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.S. adults had war machine experience, down from 18% in 1980, not long after the terminate of the military typhoon 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 college caste has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of House members and all senators accept a bachelor'south degree or more than education. Two-thirds of representatives and three-quarters of senators accept at least one graduate caste, too. 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.Due south. population. In 2019, around a third (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a bachelor'south caste or more education, according to U.South. Census Bureau data.

Congress has become slightly more religiously diverse over fourth dimension.The current Congress includes the first ii Muslim women ever to serve in the Firm and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Inquiry Eye dating dorsum to 1961. Despite this reject, Christians are still overrepresented in Congress in proportion to their share of the public: Nearly nine-in-x congressional members are Christian (88%), compared with 65% of U.S. adults overall.

Past contrast, religious "nones" are underrepresented in Congress in comparing with the U.S. population. While 26% of Americans say they are atheist, agnostic or "nothing in item," 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 post originally published on Feb. 2, 2017.