How Old is the 117th Congress?

As the members of the 117th Congress took office in January 2021, it was immediately clear that this Congress had reached an important milestone by being the most diverse in U.S. history. With the aid of CQ and FiscalNote’s data, we took a closer look in our Demographics of the 117th Congress report, to see how members of the 117th Congress break down by statistics such as alma mater, prior occupation, military service, marital status, birthplace, and yes, age.

Working on this report, we found one surprising statistic. Over the past several decades, the average age of congressional representatives hasn’t gotten younger as you might presume — especially given high-profile newcomers such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who was 29 when first elected in 2019. 

Read on for more details on the age of Congress, and download our 117th Congress demographics report for the full scoop.

What is the Average Age of Congress?

The average age of the 117th Congress is 59 years old and the median is 60 years old. This is much higher than the median age of 38 years in the United States in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Of its 435 members, the House has 38 members born in the 1980s and one born in the 1990s, while the Senate welcomed its first millennial. But the age groups with the biggest gains, compared to the 116th Congress, were those born in the 1930s and 1960s. Members in the 80+ and 50-59 age group saw gains, while the 30-39 age group saw the biggest losses. Members of Congress are, overall, getting older.

Age of the Senate

The average age of the Senate is 63 years. The most popular years of birth are 1952 and 1954 with seven members each.

Here’s a breakout of each Senator with party and age. Looking to learn more insights about any of these members? Dive deeper with CQ’s full member bios that include, contracts, grants, companies in their district/state, and more.

Age of the House of Representatives

The average age of the House of Representatives is a bit younger at 58 years. The most popular birth year is 1953 with 19 members. 

Here’s a breakout of each Representative with party and age. Ready to reach out? Knowlegis has the most up to date contact information for Congress and the best deliverability rate to the Hill.

Who are the Oldest Members of Congress?

From Alaska, all the way to Alabama, the oldest members of the 117th Congress were all born in the early 1930s. Most of them are members of the Senate. 

Specifically, the five oldest members of congress are:

• Don Young, age 87, is the Republican U.S. Representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district. He has served for 25 terms since 1973 and is the current longest-serving member in Congress.
• Dianne Feinstein, age 87, is a Democratic Senator from California
• Chuck Grassley, age 87, is a Republican Senator from Iowa
• Richard Shelby,  age 86, is a Republican Senator from Alabama
• Jim Inhofe, age 86, is a Republican Senator from Oklahoma

Who are the Youngest Members?

As for the youngest members of the 117th Congress, they are all part of the House of Representatives. Most were born in the 1980s with the exception of the youngest member of them all.

Here are the five youngest members of Congress:

• Madison Cawthorn, age 25, is the Republican U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district. He is the first member of Congress born in the 1990s.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 31, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district
• Sara Jacobs, age 31, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for California's 53rd congressional district
• Ritchie Torres, age 32, is the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York's 15th congressional district
• Jake LaTurner, age 32, is the Republican U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district

How Does Age Relate to Party?

Overall, the average age for Republicans in Congress is 58 and 60 for Democrats. Looking specifically at each party in each chamber, the averages are also very similar:

Average age of the 11th Congress Leadership

As mentioned before, Congress is getting older. When looking specifically at the leadership in each party, the averages are even higher with Democrats brushing close to 70.

Connect with Members of the 117th Congress

FiscalNote’s solutions allow government relations professionals like you to build relationships with members of the 117th Congress. Identifying constituents of members with similar biographies lets you make stronger personal connections and build relationships with specific legislators or groups of legislators. 

FiscalNote’s stakeholder and people datasets as well as CQ’s immense full member bios that include, contracts, grants, and companies in their district/state, as well as average interest groups ratings, lets you take things to the next level when building a report on the likely members most aligned with your issues.

Once you’re ready to start your outreach, FiscalNote’s legislator and staffer directory, Knowlegis, has the most up to date contact information for Congress as the best deliverability rate to the Hill, and the option of building mailing lists by issue area, party, role, caucus, voting record, committee, delegation and so on.