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The Forecast for 2028

In the 120th Congress, 39 percent of the House and 62 percent of the Senate are 60 or older. A sweeping generational transfer of power approaches.
Members of the 120th Congress by age, one dot for each of 5342

Each dot is one member, placed by age in whole years: the House above the axis, the Senate below. The median member of Congress is 18.1 years older than the median American1. Members’ ages are counted to January 3, 2027, Americans’ as of July 2025.

View as table
Members of Congress by decade of age. Members, not shares.
AgeHouse (434)Senate (100)
20 to 2920
30 to 39412
40 to 4910014
50 to 5912122
60 to 6910131
70 to 795825
80 to 89115
90 to 9901
Sources (2)
  1. 1U.S. Census Bureau, “Populations in All Age Groups Growing in the South, Driven by Outlying Counties in Metro Areas,” Vintage 2025 population estimates, release CB26-105, June 25, 2026: “The U.S. median age was 39.4 in July 2025.” Source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Ages of the 434 House members-elect and 100 senators of the 120th Congress, counted to January 3, 2027, its first day: November 3, 2026 winners as called by NBC News, CNN and the Associated Press by November 5, 2026, and the leader in the 35 races still being counted; birthdays from the Congressional Directory, the congress-legislators dataset and the sources in data/elections-2026/. A birth month, a birth year or a dated report of age counts at the middle of the span it allows. One member-elect has no birth date on file and is not counted. Delegates are not included. Source (opens in a new tab)

The 2028 field

The Forecast for 2028

  • The House

    168 members in the House field.

    • In the 2028 House field, Republican
    • In the 2028 House field, Democrat
    • Other Republican seats
    • Other Democratic seats

  • The Senate

    35 Senate races on the 2028 ballot.

    • Republican-held seat on the 2028 ballot
    • Democratic-held seat on the 2028 ballot
    • No Senate race in 2028

  • Governors

    11 governor’s races on the 2028 ballot.

    • Open seat, Republican-held: term-limited or not running again
    • Republican governor, can run again
    • Democratic governor, can run again
    • No governor’s race in 2028