Boomers still hold half the Senate after the 2026 midterms
Boomers are 31% of Americans aged 30 and over and hold 51% of Senate seats, down from 62% before the election. Millennials are 33% and hold 8%.
Each generation's share of seats, and of Americans old enough to hold them
The solid bar is the share of seats, the pale bar the share of Americans old enough. Midterm change is in percentage points.
Seats decided by 12 Nov 2026
| Chamber | Generation | Seats | Share of seats | Share of Americans old enough |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Silent 1928 to 1945 | 4 | 4% | 7% |
| Senate | Boomers 1946 to 1964 | 49 | 51% | 31% |
| Senate | Gen X 1965 to 1980 | 36 | 37% | 29% |
| Senate | Millennials 1981 to 1996 | 8 | 8% | 33% |
| Senate | Gen Z 1997 to 2012 | 0 | 0% | 0% |
| House | Silent 1928 to 1945 | 9 | 2% | 7% |
| House | Boomers 1946 to 1964 | 132 | 31% | 28% |
| House | Gen X 1965 to 1980 | 192 | 45% | 26% |
| House | Millennials 1981 to 1996 | 91 | 21% | 30% |
| House | Gen Z 1997 to 2012 | 3 | 1% | 10% |
Both chambers as a CSV: seats now and before the election, share of decided seats and share of Americans old enough to serve, by generation.
The new members are younger
Median age on 3 January 2027, when the new Congress starts.
| Chamber | Before the election | New Congress | New members only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | 67 | 63 | 51 |
| House | 59 | 57 | 49 |
About the data
- Only decided seats are counted, as of 12 Nov 2026: 97 of 100 in the Senate and 427 of 435 in the House. The rest are uncalled races, runoffs or seats awaiting an appointment.
- "Before the election" is every sitting member. Shares after it are of decided seats, so each open Senate seat can still move a share by about a point.
- Generations use Pew Research Center's birth years. People born before 1928 are counted with the Silent generation.
- The population is all US residents old enough to serve, 30 for the Senate and 25 for the House, from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimates by age. It is not limited to citizens.
- Birth dates of sitting members are from the congress-legislators dataset. New members and their birth years are from Wikipedia's list of new members of the 120th Congress, where a few are given as one of two years; we use the earlier.
- Age is the year the new Congress starts less the birth year.