This year, Congress did not grow older.
But don’t refer to it as young.
The 118th Congress arrives on Capitol Hill as one of the most senior in the last century. In fact, this is the second-oldest Senate and third-oldest House of Congress since 1789.
The Senate’s average age as of Tuesday was 63.9 years. It is 57.5 years in the House.
The 118th Congress has a half-year younger average age than the 117th. However, historical data shows that this is an outlier, as both the Senate and the House have aged significantly over the last four decades, the Senate by approximately 12 years and the House by approximately 9 years. In comparison, the median age in the United States has risen by nearly 9 years since 1980.
Representatives must be at least 25 years old to take office, and senators must be at least 30 years old.
The current Congress’s youngest known representative is 25-year-old Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., who is followed by 33-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., is the oldest known representative at 86 years old. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is the Senate’s oldest member at 89 years old, and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is the Senate’s youngest member at 35 years old.
According to the US Census Bureau, the median age in the United States is 38.8 years old.
