What percentage of Congress is made up of women?
Representation · sourced historical data
Women as a share of Congress, 1917–2025
The percentage of House and Senate seats represented by women in every Congress since 1917.
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Women account for 28.2% of members in the 119th Congress in the combined CAWP and chamber-history records.
How to read it
Divides CAWP's count of women serving by the total House and Senate seats reported for the corresponding Congress.
Important limits
- CAWP historical counts generally reflect the conclusion of a Congress, while chamber party tables describe opening election results.
- The percentage measures descriptive representation, not candidate supply, electoral opportunity, or population parity within demographic subgroups.
The data behind the view
Every plotted value.
| Year | Women in Congress |
|---|---|
| 1917 | 0.2% |
| 1919 | 0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.8% |
| 1923 | 0.2% |
| 1925 | 0.6% |
| 1927 | 0.9% |
| 1929 | 1.7% |
| 1931 | 1.5% |
| 1933 | 1.5% |
| 1935 | 1.5% |
| 1937 | 1.5% |
| 1939 | 1.7% |
| 1941 | 1.9% |
| 1943 | 1.7% |
| 1945 | 2.1% |
| 1947 | 1.5% |
| 1949 | 1.9% |
| 1951 | 2.1% |
| 1953 | 2.4% |
| 1955 | 3.2% |
| 1957 | 3.0% |
| 1959 | 3.5% |
| 1961 | 3.7% |
| 1963 | 2.6% |
| 1965 | 2.4% |
| 1967 | 2.2% |
| 1969 | 2.1% |
| 1971 | 2.8% |
| 1973 | 3.0% |
| 1975 | 3.6% |
| 1977 | 3.7% |
| 1979 | 3.2% |
| 1981 | 4.3% |
| 1983 | 4.5% |
| 1985 | 4.7% |
| 1987 | 4.7% |
| 1989 | 5.8% |
| 1991 | 6.0% |
| 1993 | 10.1% |
| 1995 | 10.7% |
| 1997 | 11.8% |
| 1999 | 12.1% |
| 2001 | 13.4% |
| 2003 | 13.8% |
| 2005 | 15.3% |
| 2007 | 16.5% |
| 2009 | 16.9% |
| 2011 | 16.9% |
| 2013 | 18.7% |
| 2015 | 19.6% |
| 2017 | 20.6% |
| 2019 | 23.6% |
| 2021 | 27.3% |
| 2023 | 28.2% |
| 2025 | 28.2% |