Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile Page: 4 of 10
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Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile
C ongress is composed of 541 individuals from the 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands.' This count assumes that no seat is temporarily vacant.2 The following is a profile
of the 111th Congress.3
Party Breakdown
In the 111th Congress, the current party alignments are 261 Democrats in the House of
Representatives (including five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner) and 180 Republicans.
The Senate has 57 Democrats; two Independents, who caucus with the Democrats, and 41
Republicans.
Age
The average age of members of the 111th Congress is among the highest of any Congress in recent
U.S. history.4 The average age of Senators at the beginning of the 111th Congress was 63.1 years,
approximately 1.5 years greater than that of the 110th Congress (61.7 years) and three years older
than that of Senators in the 109th Congress (60.1 years).
At the beginning of the 111th Congress, the average age of members of the House, including
Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, was 57.2 years, over a year older than that of
Representatives in the 110th Congress (55.9 years), and almost two years older than that of
Representatives in the 109th Congress (55.1 years). The average age of all members in both
houses is 58.2 years.
At the beginning of the 111th Congress, the average age of new members of the House, including
a Delegate and the Resident Commissioner, was 49.8 years. The average age of new Senators was
57.1 years.
1 This figure includes 100 Senators, 435 Representatives, five delegates (from the District of Columbia, Guam,
American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands), and one Resident Commissioner from
Puerto Rico. The 111 Congress is the first one in which the Northern Mariana Islands have had a delegate. Note that
since 1789, 11,909 individuals (not including Delegates and Resident Commissioners) have served in Congress: 9,991
only in the House, 1,268 only in the Senate, and 650 in both houses.
2 Currently, there are no House vacancies or Senate vacancies. For information on all special elections and
appointments to fill vacancies in the 111' Congress, refer to http://crs.gov/resources/Pages/Congress1ll.aspx. This
site is updated when there is a death or resignation of a member of Congress as well as an appointment or election to
fill a vacancy.
3 Information on the five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner is included where relevant. References to
Representatives include information for the 435 members of the House, but not Delegates or the Resident
Commissioner. For background information on earlier Congresses, refer to CRS Report RS22555, Membership of the
I10th Congress: A Profile, by Mildred Amer, and CRS Report RS22007, Membership of the 109h Congress: A Profile,
by Mildred Amer. See also CRS Report RL30378, African American Members of the United States Congress: 1870-
2009, by Jennifer E. Manning and Colleen J. Shogan; CRS Report RL30261, Women in the United States Congress:
1917-2009, by Jennifer E. Manning, and Colleen J. Shogan; and CRS Report 97-398, Asian Pacific Americans in the
United States Congress, by Lorraine H. Tong.
4 Complete CRS records on the ages of members of the House begin in 1907, the 60' Congress.Congressional Research Service
1
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Manning, Jennifer E. Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile, report, December 27, 2010; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822496/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.