The 117th U.S. Congress took office in January, with Democrats holding 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 7 charts that bear witness how the demographic profile of Congress has inverse over time, using historical data from CQ Gyre Call, the Congressional Research Service and other sources.

To determine the demographics of the 117th Congress, we pulled data from recently published Pew Research Heart analyses and other before work. Because not all members of the 117th Congress were seated on Jan. 3, 2021, and considering some then-filled seats are now empty or changed easily since that fourth dimension, previously published data comes from several dates. For more than 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 every bit of March 3. Data is drawn from the U.S. Congress Biographical Directory and, when relevant, other official biographies and news reports.

All data 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 various 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 part in 1945, non-White lawmakers represented simply ane% of the House and Senate.

Despite this growing racial and ethnic diversity, Congress remains less diverse than the nation equally a whole: Non-Hispanic White Americans account for 77% of voting members in the new Congress, considerably more than their lx% 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 loftier.Virtually a century after Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress, in that location are 144 women in the national legislature, accounting for a tape 27% of all members beyond both chambers. (This includes vi nonvoting House members who correspond the District of Columbia and U.Southward. territories, 4 of whom are women.)

A record 120 women are currently serving in the Firm, accounting for 27% of the bedchamber'southward full. There are 24 women in the Senate, one fewer than the record number of seats they held in the concluding Congress. In four states – Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Washington – both senators are women, down from vi 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 3 women serving at whatever 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 contempo years. In the current Congress, 7% of House members, or 31 lawmakers, are Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), up from ane% in the 115th Congress. A third of Business firm lawmakers, or 144 members, are Gen X (born from 1965 to 1980), upwards 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 kickoff Millennial senator: Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia. The number of Gen X senators has gradually ticked upwards from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 this year.

While younger generations have increased their representation in Congress in contempo years, older generations still business relationship for the majority of lawmakers beyond both chambers. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) make upward 53% of the Business firm's voting membership, in addition 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 upwards but remains well below historical highs.In that location 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 business relationship for 3% of legislators, slightly higher than the share in other contempo Congresses only beneath the shares in much earlier Congresses. In the 50th Congress of 1887-89, for case, 8% of members were built-in abroad. The current share of foreign-born lawmakers in Congress is also far below the foreign-built-in share of the U.S. as a whole, which was xiii.6% as of 2019.

While the number of strange-built-in lawmakers in the current Congress is small-scale, more members have at least one parent who was born in another country. Together, immigrants and the children of immigrants business relationship for at least xiv% of the new Congress, a slightly college share than in the terminal Congress (13%).

Far fewer members of Congress now have direct military experience than in the past. In the current Congress, 91 members served in the military at some bespeak in their lives – the everyman number since at least World War Ii, according to Armed forces 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%) 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 belatedly 20th century. Between 1965 and 1975, at least 70% of lawmakers in each legislative chamber had military experience. The share of members with armed services feel peaked at 75% in 1967 for the Firm and at 81% in 1975 for the Senate.

While relatively few members of Congress today accept military feel, an even smaller share of Americans exercise. In 2018, about 7% of U.South. adults had military experience, down from xviii% in 1980, not 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 have college degrees. The share of representatives and senators with a higher degree has steadily increased over time. In the 117th Congress, 94% of House members and all senators have a available'due south degree or more than education. Ii-thirds of representatives and 3-quarters of senators have at least ane graduate caste, also. In the 79th Congress (1945-47), by comparison, 56% of Business firm 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 tertiary (36%) of American adults ages 25 and older said they had completed a available's 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 starting time two Muslim women e'er to serve in the House and has the fewest Christians (468) in 12 Congresses analyzed by Pew Research Center dating back to 1961. Despite this decline, Christians are nevertheless 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.Southward. population. While 26% of Americans say they are atheist, agnostic or "zilch in particular," just ane 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 postal service originally published on Feb. 2, 2017.