Membership of the 113th Congress: A Profile
Released: 2014-11-24T00:00:00

Overview and Total Members in History

Congress is composed of 541 individuals from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. This count assumes that no seat is temporarily vacant.

Since 1789, 12,113 individuals have served in Congress: 10,824 in the House and 1,949 in the Senate. Of these Members, 662 have served in both chambers. These numbers do not include the additional 213 nonvoting Delegates and Resident Commissioners who have served in the House.

The following is a profile of the 113 th Congress (2013-2014).

Party Breakdown

In the 113 th Congress, the current party alignments as of November 24, 2014, are

House of Representatives: 234 Republicans, 207 Democrats (including the 5 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner), and no vacant seats. Senate: 53 Democrats; 2 Independents, who caucus with the Democrats; and 45 Republicans.

Age

The average age of Members of the 113 th Congress is among the highest of any Congress in recent U.S. history.

Table 1 shows the average ages at the beginning of the 113 th Congress.

The U.S. Constitution requires Representatives to be at least 25 years old when they take office. The youngest Representative at the beginning of the 113 th Congress was 29-year-old Patrick Murphy (D-FL), born March 30, 1983. The oldest Representative in U.S. history, as well as the oldest current Member of Congress, is Ralph Hall (R-TX), born May 3, 1923, who was 89 at the beginning of the 113 th Congress.

Senators must be at least 30 years old when they take office. The oldest Senator in the 113 th Congress is Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), born June 22, 1933, who was 79 at the beginning of the Congress. The youngest Senator is Christopher S. Murphy (D-CT), born August 3, 1973, who was 39.

Occupations

According to the CQ Roll Call Guide to the New Congress , in the 113 th Congress, law is the dominantly declared profession of Senators, followed by public service/politics, then business; for Representatives, business is first, followed by public service/politics, then law.

Table 2 uses data from the CQ Roll Call Member Profiles to show the following occupations most frequently listed for Members at the beginning of the 113 th Congress.

A closer look at the prior occupations and previously held public offices of Members of the House and Senate at the beginning of the 113 th Congress, as listed in their CQ Roll Call Member Profiles , also shows the following:

51 Senators have previous House service; 102 educators, employed as teachers, professors, instructors, school fundraisers, counselors, administrators, or coaches (90 in the House, 12 in the Senate); 2 physicians in the Senate, 17 physicians in the House (including 1 Delegate), plus 2 dentists, 2 veterinarians, and 1 psychiatrist; 3 psychologists (both in the House), an optometrist (in the Senate), and 5 nurses (all in the House); 5 ordained ministers, all in the House; 33 former mayors (24 in the House, 9 in the Senate); 10 former state governors (all 10 in the Senate) and 8 lieutenant governors (4 in the Senate, 4 in the House, including 2 Delegates); 7 former judges (all in the House), and 32 prosecutors (8 in the Senate, and 24 in the House, including a Delegate), who have served in city, county, state, federal, or military capacities; 1 former Cabinet Secretary (in the Senate), and 2 Ambassadors (one in each chamber); 262 state or territorial legislators (219 in the House, including 2 Delegates, and 43 in the Senate); at least 100 congressional staffers (20 in the Senate, 80 in the House), as well as 8 congressional pages (4 in the House and 4 in the Senate); 5 Peace Corps volunteers, all in the House; 3 sheriffs and 1 deputy sheriff, 2 FBI agents (all in the House), and a firefighter in the Senate; 2 physicists, 6 engineers, and 1 microbiologist (all in the House, with the exception of 1 Senator who is an engineer); 5 radio talk show hosts (4 House, 1 Senate), 6 radio or television broadcasters (5 House, 1 Senate), 7 reporters or journalists (5 in the House, 2 in the Senate), and a radio station manager and a public television producer (both in the House); 9 accountants in the House and 2 in the Senate; 5 software company executives, all in the House; 3 pilots, all in the House, and 1 astronaut, in the Senate; a screenwriter, a comedian, and a documentary film maker, all in the Senate, and a professional football player, in the House; 29 farmers, ranchers, or cattle farm owners (25 House, 4 Senate); 2 almond orchard owners, both in the House, 1 cattle farm owner (a Senator), 1 vintner (a House Member), 1 fisherman (a House Member), and 1 fruit orchard worker (a House Member); 7 social workers in the House and 2 in the Senate; and 9 current members of the military reserves (8 House, 1 Senate), and 6 current members of the National Guard (all in the House).

Other occupations listed in the CQ Roll Call Member Profiles include car dealership owner, auto worker, insurance agent, rodeo announcer, union representative, stockbroker, welder, venture capitalist, funeral home owner, and software engineer.

Education

As has been true in recent Congresses, the vast majority of Members (93% of House Members and 99% of Senators) at the beginning of the 113 th Congress hold bachelor's degrees. The CQ Roll Call Member Profiles at the beginning of the 113 th Congress indicate the following:

21 Members of the House and 1 Senator have no educational degree beyond a high school diploma; 7 Members of the House, but no Senators, have associate's degrees as their highest degree, and 1 House Member has an L.P.N. (nursing) degree; 85 members of the House and 14 Senators earned a master's degree as their highest education degree; Law degrees are held by 169 Members of the House (38% of the House) and 57 Senators (57% of the Senate); Of the Members holding a law degree, 4 (3 House Members and 1 Senator) also hold an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree; 20 Representatives (but no Senators) have doctoral (Ph.D. or D.Phil.) degrees; and 22 Members of the House and 3 Senators have a medical degree.

By comparison, approximately 30 years ago in the 97 th Congress (1981-1982), 84% of House Members and 88% of Senators held bachelor's degrees. Approximately 40 years ago, in the 92 nd Congress (1971-1972), 77% of House Members and 87% of Senators held bachelor's degrees. Fifty-two years ago, in the 87 th Congress (1961-1962), 71% of House Members and 76% of Senators held bachelor's degrees.

Three Representatives and one Senator in the 113 th Congress are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy and one Senator and one Representative graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Two Senators and two Representatives were Rhodes Scholars, two Representatives were Fulbright Scholars, two Representatives were Marshall Scholars, and one Senator and one Representative were Truman Scholars.

Congressional Service

The average length of service of Members of the House at the beginning of the 113 th Congress was 9.1 years (4.6 terms) and for Senators 10.2 years (1.7 terms).

As of June 7, 2013, Representative John Dingell (D-MI), the current dean of the House, has the longest service of any Member in history (57 years and counting). He began serving on December 13, 1955.

At the beginning of the 113 th Congress, 75 of the Representatives (17% of the total House membership) had first been elected to the House in November 2012, and 14 of the Senators (14% of the total Senate membership) had first been elected to the Senate in November 2012, or appointed to the Senate in December 2012. These numbers are lower than at the beginning of the 112 th Congress, when 21% of the House, and 15% of the Senate, were newly elected or appointed "freshmen."

At the beginning of the 113 th Congress, 157 Representatives (36% of the House Members) had no more than 2 years of House experience, and 30 Senators (30% of the Senators) had no more than 2 years of Senate experience.

For more historical information on the tenure of Members of Congress, please see CRS Report R41545, Congressional Careers: Service Tenure and Patterns of Member Service, 1789-2013 , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

Religion

Ninety-eight percent of the Members of the 113 th Congress cite a specific religious affiliation. Of the 98%, the vast majority are Christian.

Statistics gathered by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which studies the religious affiliation of Members, and CQ Roll Call at the beginning of the 113 th Congress showed the following:

56% of the Members (247 in the House, 52 in the Senate) are Protestant, with Baptist as the most represented denomination; 31% of the Members (136 in the House, 27 in the Senate) are Catholic; 6.2% of the Members (22 in the House, 11 in the Senate) are Jewish; 2.8% of the Members (8 in the House, 7 in the Senate) are Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints); 3 Members (2 in the House, 1 in the Senate) are Buddhist, 2 House Members are Muslim, and 1 House Member is Hindu; and Other religious affiliations represented include Greek Orthodox, Quaker, Unitarian Universalist, and Christian Science.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life states,

The changes in the religious makeup of Congress during the last half-century mirror broader changes in American society. Congress, like the nation as a whole, has become much less Protestant and more religiously diverse. The number of Protestants in Congress has dropped from three-quarters (75%) in 1961 to 56% today.... Meanwhile, other religious groups have seen their share of congressional seats grow, in some cases dramatically.

Gender and Ethnicity

Female Members

A record 103 women (19.0% of total membership) serve in the 113 th Congress as of November 2014, 10 more than at the beginning of the 112 th Congress. Eighty-three women, including 3 Delegates, serve in the House and 20 in the Senate. Of the 83 women in the House, 64 are Democrats, including the 3 Delegates, and 19 are Republicans. Of the 20 women in the Senate, 16 are Democrats and 4 are Republicans.

African American Members

There are 45 African American Members (8.3% of the total membership) in the 113 th Congress, one more than at the beginning of the 112 th Congress. Forty-three serve in the House, including 2 Delegates, and 2 serve in the Senate. This number includes one Member of the House who is of African American and Asian ancestry and is counted in both ethnic categories in this report. All of the 43 House Members, including 2 Delegates, are Democrats, and there is a Senator of each party. Sixteen African American women, including two Delegates, serve in the House.

Hispanic/Latino American Members

There are 37 Hispanic or Latino Members in the 113 th Congress, 6.9% of the total membership. Thirty-three serve in the House and four in the Senate. Of the Members of the House, 26 are Democrats (including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico), 7 are Republicans, and 9 are women. There are 4 male Hispanic Senators (3 Republicans, 1 Democrat). One set of Hispanic Members, Representatives Linda Sánchez and Loretta Sanchez, are sisters.

Asian/Pacific Islander American Members

Thirteen Members of the 113 th Congress (2.4% of the total membership, the same as at the beginning of the 112 th Congress) are of Asian, South Asian, or Pacific Islander ancestry. Twelve of them (all Democrats) serve in the House, and one (a Democrat) serves in the Senate. Of those serving in the House, two are Delegates. Seven of the Asian Pacific American Members are female: six in the House and one in the Senate.

These numbers include one House Member who is also of African American ancestry and another of Hispanic ancestry; these Members are counted in both ethnic categories.

American Indian Members

There are two American Indian (Native American) Members of the 113 th Congress, both of whom are Republican Members of the House.

Foreign Birth

Ten Representatives and three Senators (2.4% of the entire 113 th Congress) were born outside the United States. Their places of birth include Canada, Cuba, Great Britain, Japan, Peru, and Thailand. Many of these Members were born to American citizens working or serving abroad. The U.S. Constitution requires that Representatives be citizens for seven years, and Senators be citizens for nine years, before they take office.

Military Service

At the beginning of the 113 th Congress, there were 108 Members (20% of the total membership) who had served or were serving in the military, 10 fewer than at the beginning of the 112 th Congress (118 Members) and 12 fewer than in the 111 th Congress (120 members). According to lists compiled by CQ Roll Call , the House currently has 88 veterans (including 2 female Members, as well as 2 Delegates); the Senate has 18. These Members served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as during times of peace. Many have served in the Reserves and the National Guard. Eight House Members and one Senator are still serving in the Reserves, and six House Members are still serving in the National Guard. Both of the female veterans are combat veterans.

The number of veterans in the 113 th Congress reflects the trend of steady decline in recent decades in the number of Members who have served in the military. For example, 64% of the members of the 97 th Congress (1981-1982) were veterans; and in the 92 nd Congress (1971-1972), 73% of the Members were veterans.

For summary information on the demographics of Members in selected past Congresses, including age trends, occupational backgrounds, military veteran status, and educational attainment, please see CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945 , coordinated by [author name scrubbed].