Jonathan Milner Jonathan Milner

What is the average age of a US Senator?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

  1. According to the data from the visual above, which chamber of Congress has the higher current average age

  2. The median age of senators has risen over the last several Congresses. In the 119th Congress, in 2025, the average age of senators was 64, and the average age in the House of Representatives was 57 years. 100 years ago, the median age of Congress was 53. 200 years ago, the median age of Congress was 43.2. Why do you think the median age of Congress continues to climb?

  3. With an average member age of 58.9 years old, the 119th Congress is the third oldest since 1789. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Americans is 38.1. What explains the fact that Congress is so much older than America?

  4. Insider’s special investigation, “Red, White, and Gray” describes the United States as a gerontocracy - government by the old. Describe one political consequence of electing a Congress that is more than 20 years older than the average American citizen.

  5. Imagine the next Congress had a median age of 30! Describe two policy changes which you imagine would result from this age change:

  6. The youngest member of the 119th Congress is twenty-eight-year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Democrat of Florida, and the first Gen Z member of Congress. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-3), born April 7, 1992, is the youngest woman currently serving in Congress at 32 years old. She is serving her first term in Congress. Given the age requirements of the U.S. Constitution, which chamber must 28 year-old Congressman Frost be a member of: the House or the Senate?

  7. Coming into the 119th Congress at 91 years old, Senator Chuck Grassley is the oldest and longest-serving member of the Senate. He is the longest-serving Republican in Congressional history. The oldest member of the House of Representatives is Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY-5) who is 87 years old. We have age minimums for Congress. Explain whether you would support an age maximum for the U.S. Congress.

  8. Overall, Democrats are slightly older than their Republican counterparts in Congress. Breaking down the data by party, age metrics reveal Republicans averaging 58 years and Democrats 59. How surprised are you that congressional Democrats are older than Republicans?

  9. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., 35, is the youngest Senator. If you were to rewrite the age requirements for the U.S. Congress for today, what would the age minimums be?

  10. In 1776, the American colonists left England because of “taxation without representation.” Would it be fair to say that people under the voting age have taxation without representation?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Look up your Congressional representative and Senators and share their ages with class.

Get Creative

If a congress were a musical genre (jazz, hip hop, country, blues, samba, zydeco, ragtime, classical) what would it be?

Learning Extension

Read the Quorum Report of age and the 119th Congress.

Glossary

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