Membership of the 116th Congress: A Profile
Released: 2019-03-07T00:00:00

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. Since 1789, 12,343 individuals have served as either Representatives (11,037 individuals) or as Senators (1,983 individuals). Of these individuals, 677 have served in both chambers. An additional 178 individuals have served in the House in the roles of territorial Delegates or Resident Commissioners.

The following is a profile of the 116 th Congress (2019-2020).

Party Breakdown

In the 116 th Congress, the current party alignments as of March 7, 2019, are as follows:

House of Representatives: 239 Democrats (including 4 Delegates), 199 Republicans (including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), and 3 vacant seats. Senate: 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Independents, who both caucus with the Democrats.

Age

The average age at the beginning of the 116 th Congress was 57.6 years for Representatives and 62.9 years for Senators.

Table 1 shows the average ages at the beginning of the 116 th and three previous Congresses.

The U.S. Constitution requires Representatives to be at least 25 years old when they take office. The youngest Representative in the 116 th Congress, and the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress, is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), born October 13, 1989, who was 29 at the beginning of the 116 th Congress. The oldest Representative is Don Young (R-AK), born June 9, 1933, who was 85.

Senators must be at least 30 years old when they take office. The youngest Senator in the 116 th Congress is Josh Hawley (R-MO), born December 31, 1979, who was 39 at the beginning of the Congress. The oldest Senator in the 116 th Congress is Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), born June 22, 1933, who was 85.

Occupations

According to data on occupations in the CQ New Members Guide , in the 116 th Congress law ties with public service/politics as the most commonly declared profession of Senators, followed by business; for Representatives, public service/politics is first, closely followed by business, then law.

Table 2 uses data from the CQ Member Profiles to present the occupational categories most frequently listed as prior careers of Members of the 116 th Congress.

A closer look at the range of prior occupations and previously held public offices of Members of the House and Senate at the beginning of the 116 th Congress, as listed in their CQ Member Profiles , also shows the following:

50 Senators with previous House service; 95 Members have worked in education, including teachers, professors, instructors, school fundraisers, counselors, administrators, or coaches (75 in the House, including 2 delegates, 20 in the Senate); 3 physicians in the Senate, 13 physicians in the House, plus 5 dentists and 3 veterinarians; 2 psychologists (all in the House), an optometrist (in the Senate), a pharmacist (in the House), and 2 nurses and 1 physician assistant (in the House); 7 ordained ministers, all in the House; 41 former mayors (34 in the House, 7 in the Senate); 13 former state governors (12 in the Senate, 1 in the House) and 7 lieutenant governors (4 in the Senate, 3 in the House); 16 former judges (all but 1 in the House) and 42 prosecutors (10 in the Senate, 32 in the House) who have served in city, county, state, federal, or military capacities; 2 former Cabinet Secretaries (1 in each chamber), and 3 Ambassadors (all in the House); 246 former state or territorial legislators (43 in the Senate, 203 in the House, including 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico); at least 89 former congressional staffers (19 in the Senate, 70 in the House, including 3 Delegates), as well as 6 congressional pages (3 in the House and 3 in the Senate); 3 sheriffs, 1 police chief and 3 other police officers, 1 firefighter, 3 CIA employees, and 1 FBI agent (all in the House); 3 Peace Corps volunteers, all in the House; 1 physicist and 1 chemist, both in the House; 11 engineers (10 in the House and 1 in the Senate); 20 public relations or communications professionals (4 in the Senate, 16 in the House), and 10 accountants (2 in the Senate and 8 in the House); 6 software company executives in the House and 2 in the Senate; 19 management consultants (5 in the Senate, 14 in the House), 5 car dealership owners (all in the House), and 4 venture capitalists (2 in the House, 2 in the Senate); 12 bankers or bank executives (3 in the Senate, 9 in the House), 29 veterans of the real estate industry (4 in the Senate, 25 in the House), and 10 Members who have worked in the construction industry (1 in the Senate, 9 in the House); 6 social workers (2 in the Senate, 4 in the House) and 3 union representatives (all in the House); 13 nonprofit executives in the House; 3 radio talk show hosts (1 in the Senate, 2 in the House); 4 radio or television broadcasters, managers, or owners (all in the House); 6 reporters or journalists (1 in the Senate, 5 in the House), a public television producer in the House, and a newspaper publisher in each chamber; 21 insurance agents or executives (4 in the Senate, 17 in the House) and 4 Members who have worked with stocks or bonds (all in the House); 1 artist, 1 book publisher, and 2 speechwriters (all in the House), and 1 documentary filmmaker in the Senate; 6 restaurateurs (5 in the House, 1 in the Senate), as well as 2 coffee shop owners, 1 wine store owner, and 1 whiskey distiller (all in the House); 27 farmers, ranchers, or cattle farm owners (5 in the Senate, 22 in the House); 1 almond orchard owner and vintner, as well as a forester and a fruit orchard worker (all in the House); 1 flight attendant and 1 pilot, both in the House; 3 professional football players, 1 hockey player, 1 baseball player, and 1 mixed martial arts fighter (all in the House); and 9 current members of the military reserves (8 in the House, 1 in the Senate) and 7 current members of the National Guard (all in the House).

Other occupations listed in the CQ Member Profiles include emergency dispatcher, letter carrier, animal nutrition specialist, cake decorator, waiter, electrician, rodeo announcer, carpenter, computer systems analyst, software engineer, R&D lab executive, and explosives expert.

Education

As has been true in recent Congresses, the vast majority of Members (94.8% of House Members and 100% of Senators) at the beginning of the 116 th Congress hold bachelor's degrees. Sixty-eight percent of House Members and 77% of Senators hold educational degrees beyond a bachelor's. The CQ Member Profiles at the beginning of the 116 th Congress indicate the following:

17 Members of the House have no educational degree beyond a high school diploma; 6 Members of the House have associate's degrees as their highest degrees; 99 Members of the House and 18 Senators earned a master's degree as their highest attained degrees; 161 Members of the House (36.6% of the House) and 53 Senators (53% of the Senate) hold law degrees; 21 Representatives and 4 Senators have doctoral (Ph.D., D.Phil., Ed.D., or D. Min) degrees; and 21 Members of the House and 4 Senators have medical degrees.

By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 99 th Congress (1985-1986), 85% of House Members and 88% of Senators held bachelor's degrees. Approximately 45 years ago, in the 94 th Congress (1975-1976), 82% of House Members and 88% of Senators held bachelor's degrees. About 60 years ago, in the 87 th Congress (1961-1962), 76% of House Members and 76% of Senators held bachelor's degrees.

Five Representatives and one Senator are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, two Representatives and one Senator graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, and one Senator graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Five Representatives and one Senator were Rhodes Scholars, two Representatives were Fulbright Scholars, two Representatives were Marshall Scholars, and two Representatives and one Senator were Truman Scholars.

Congressional Service

The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 116 th Congress was 8.6 years (4.3 House terms); for Senators, 10.1 years (1.7 Senate terms).

At the beginning of the 116 th Congress, 90 of the House Members, including the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico (20.4% of the total House Membership), had first been elected to the House in November 2018, and 9 of the Senators (9% of the total Senate membership) had first been elected to the Senate in November 2018. These numbers are higher than at the beginning of the 115 th Congress, when 11.8% of the House and 7% of the Senate were newly elected "freshmen."

At the beginning of the 116 th Congress, 144 House Members, including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner (32.7% of House Members), had no more than two years of House experience, and 19 Senators (19% of Senators) had no more than two years of Senate experience.

For more historical information on the tenure of Members of Congress, see CRS Report R41545, Congressional Careers: Service Tenure and Patterns of Member Service, 1789-2019 , by William T. Egar and Amber Hope Wilhelm.

Religion

Ninety-seven percent of the Members of the 116 th Congress report an affiliation with a specific religion.

Statistics gathered by the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life, which studies the religious affiliation of Representatives and Senators, and CQ at the beginning of the 116 th Congress showed the following:

54.9% of Members (233 in the House, 60 in the Senate) are Protestant, with Baptist as the most represented denomination, followed by Methodist; 30.5% of Members (141 in the House, 22 in the Senate) are Catholic; 6.4% of Members (26 in the House, 8 in the Senate) are Jewish; 1.9% of Members (6 in the House, 4 in the Senate) are Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints); 2 Members (1 in the House, 1 in the Senate) are Buddhist, 3 Representatives are Muslim, and 3 Representatives are Hindu; and other religious affiliations represented include Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and Adventist.

Gender and Ethnicity

Women Members

A record 131 women Members (24.2% of the total membership) serve in the 116 th Congress, 22 more than at the beginning of the 115 th Congress. One hundred six women, including 3 Delegates as well as the Resident Commissioner, serve in the House and 25 in the Senate. Of the 106 women in the House, 91 are Democrats, including 2 of the Delegates, and 15 are Republicans, including 1 Delegate as well as the Resident Commissioner. Of the 25 women in the Senate, 17 are Democrats and 8 are Republicans.

By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 99 th Congress (1985-1986), 23 women served in the House, and 2 in the Senate. Approximately 45 years ago, in the 94 th Congress (1975-1976), there were 19 women in the House, and none in the Senate.

African American Members

There are a record 58 African American Members (10.7% of the total membership) in the 116 th Congress, 6 more than at the beginning of the 115 th Congress. Fifty-five serve in the House, including two Delegates, and three serve in the Senate. This number includes one Representative, as well as one Senator, who are of African American and Asian ancestry, and two Representatives who are of African American and Hispanic ancestry. In this report, each of these four Members is counted as belonging to two ethnic groups. Fifty-four of the African American House Members, including two Delegates, are Democrats, and one is a Republican. Two of the Senators are Democrats and one is Republican. Twenty-four African American women, including two Delegates, serve in the House, and one serves in the Senate.

By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 99 th Congress (1985-1986), 21 African American Members served in the House, and none in the Senate. About 60 years ago, in the 87 th Congress (1961-1962), there were 4 African American Members of Congress, all serving in the House.

Hispanic/Latino American Members

There are 50 Hispanic or Latino Members in the 116 th Congress, 9.2% of the total membership and a record number. Forty-five serve in the House, including two delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and 5 in the Senate. These numbers include two House Members who are also of Asian descent, and two House Members also of African ancestry; these Members are counted in both ethnic categories in this report. Of the Members of the House, 37 are Democrats (including 2 Delegates) and 8 are Republicans (including the Resident Commissioner). Fourteen are women, including the Resident Commissioner. Of the five Hispanic Senators (three Republicans, two Democrats), one is a woman. By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 99 th Congress (1985-1986), 14 Hispanic or Latino Members served in Congress. All 14 were male Members of the House.

Asian/Pacific Islander American Members

A record 20 Members of the 116 th Congress (3.8% of the total membership) are of Asian, South Asian, or Pacific Islander ancestry. Seventeen of them (16 Democrats, 1 Republican) serve in the House, and 3 (all Democrats) serve in the Senate. These numbers include one House Member and one Senator who are also of African American ancestry, and another House Member of Hispanic ancestry; these Members are counted in both ethnic categories in this report. Of those serving in the House, three are Delegates. Ten of the Asian, Pacific Islander, or South Asian American Members are female: seven in the House, and all three in the Senate. By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 99 th Congress (1985-1986), there were five Asian/Pacific Islander Americans in the House, and two in the Senate.

American Indian Members

There are four American Indian (Native American) Members of the 116 th Congress; two of each party, all in the House. This is two more than in the 115 th Congress, and a record number.

Foreign Birth

Twenty-four Representatives and five Senators (5.3% of the 116 th Congress) were born outside the United States. Their places of birth include Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, Japan, Peru, and India. Some 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 116 th Congress, there were 96 individuals (17.8% of the total membership) who had served or were serving in the military, 6 fewer than at the beginning of the 115 th Congress (102 Members). According to lists compiled by CQ , the House as of January 2019 had 78 veterans (including 4 female Members, as well as 1 Delegate); the Senate had 18 veterans, including 3 women. These Members served in the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and combat or peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as during times of peace. Eight House Members and one Senator are still serving in the reserves, and seven House Members are still serving in the National Guard. Four of the seven female veterans are combat veterans.

The number of veterans in the 116 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, see CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945 , coordinated by R. Eric Petersen.