United States congressional apportionment
United States congressional apportionment is the process
The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives has been 435 since 1913, capped at that number by the Reapportionment Act of 1929—except for a temporary (1959–1962) increase to 437 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted into the Union.[3] The Huntington–Hill method of equal proportions has been used to distribute the seats among the states since the 1940 census reapportionment.[1][4] Federal law requires the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives to notify each state government of the number of seats apportioned to the state no later than January 25 of the year immediately following each decennial census.
The size of a state's total congressional delegation (which in addition to representative(s) includes 2
Constitutional context
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Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
three fifths of all other Persons. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative;…
The phrase "all other persons" refers to slaves, a word not used in the Constitution until the Thirteenth Amendment.
Following the end of the Civil War, the first of those provisions was superseded by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment:
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.[5] But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
The phrase "counting the whole number of persons in each State" has traditionally been understood to include non-citizens for purposes of apportionment.[6]
Reapportionment
Reapportionments normally occur following each decennial census, though the law that governs the total number of representatives and the method of apportionment to be carried into force at that time are enacted prior to the census.
The decennial apportionment also determines the size of each state's representation in the
Federal law requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to notify each state government no later than January 25 of the year immediately following the census of the number of seats to which it is entitled. Whether or not the number of seats has changed, the state determines the boundaries of congressional districts—geographical areas within the state of approximately equal population—in a process called redistricting.[7]
Because the deadline for the House Clerk to report the results does not occur until the following January, and the states need sufficient time to perform the redistricting, the decennial census does not affect the elections that are held during that same year. For example, the electoral college apportionment and congressional races during the 2020 presidential election year were still based on the 2010 census results; all of the newly redrawn districts based on the 2020 census did not finally come into force until the 2022 midterm election winners were inaugurated in January 2023.
Number of members
The size of the U.S. House of Representatives refers to the total number of congressional districts (or seats) into which the land area of the United States proper has been divided. The number of voting representatives is currently
Controversy and history
Since 1789, when the United States Congress first convened under the Constitution, the number of citizens per congressional district has risen from an average of 33,000 in 1790 to over 700,000 as of 2018[update]. Prior to the 20th century, the number of representatives increased every decade as more states joined the union, and the population increased.
Starting yearY |
Source | Avg. constituents per member |
---|---|---|
1793
|
1790 census | 34,436 |
1803
|
1800 census | 34,609 |
1813
|
1810 census | 36,377 |
1823
|
1820 census | 42,124 |
1833
|
1830 census | 49,712 |
1843
|
1840 census | 71,338 |
1853
|
1850 census | 93,020 |
1863
|
1860 census | 122,614 |
1873
|
1870 census | 130,533 |
1883 | 1880 census | 151,912 |
1893 | 1890 census | 173,901 |
1903 | 1900 census | 193,167 |
1913 | 1910 census | 210,583 |
1923 | 1920 census | 243,728 |
1933 | 1930 census | 280,675 |
1943 | 1940 census | 301,164 |
1953 | 1950 census | 334,587 |
1963 | 1960 census | 410,481 |
1973 | 1970 census | 469,088 |
1983 | 1980 census | 510,818 |
1993 | 1990 census | 571,477 |
2003 | 2000 census | 646,946 |
2013 | 2010 census | 709,760 |
2023 | 2020 census | 761,169 |
YElections are held the preceding year |
The ideal number of members has been a contentious issue since the country's founding.
In Federalist No. 55, James Madison argued that the size of the House of Representatives has to balance the ability of the body to legislate with the need for legislators to have a relationship close enough to the people to understand their local circumstances, that such representatives' social class be low enough to sympathize with the feelings of the mass of the people, and that their power be diluted enough to limit their abuse of the public trust and interests.
... first, that so small a number of representatives will be an unsafe depositary of the public interests; secondly, that they will not possess a proper knowledge of the local circumstances of their numerous constituents; thirdly, that they will be taken from that class of citizens which will sympathize least with the feelings of the mass of the people, and be most likely to aim at a permanent elevation of the few on the depression of the many; ...[11]
Madison also addressed Anti-Federalist claims that the representation would be inadequate, arguing that the major inadequacies are of minimal inconvenience since these will be cured rather quickly by virtue of decennial reapportionment. He noted, however,
I take for granted here what I shall, in answering the fourth objection, hereinafter show, that the number of representatives will be augmented from time to time in the manner provided by the Constitution. On a contrary supposition, I should admit the objection to have very great weight indeed.
Madison argued against the assumption that more is better:
Sixty or seventy men may be more properly trusted with a given degree of power than six or seven. But it does not follow that six or seven hundred would be proportionally a better depositary. And if we carry on the supposition to six or seven thousand, the whole reasoning ought to be reversed. ... In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever character composed, passion never fails to wrest the scepter from reason.[11]
Global comparison and disparities
When talking about the populations within California's reapportioned House districts in 1951, a report from Duke University found that "[there] is not an excessive disparity in district populations, but [the populations and disparities are] perhaps larger than necessary."[12] If the House had a similar ratio of representatives to constituents as it did after the 1930 United States census, it would currently have 1,156 members (still just the second largest lower house, after China).[13]
The United States has unusually large constituencies compared to other OECD countries,[13] the third largest in the world. However, most of this is caused by the United States's large population (the fourth-largest in the world) (see cube root law).
Membership cap
The
In 1921, Congress failed to reapportion the House membership as required by the United States Constitution. This failure to reapportion may have been politically motivated, as the
In 1929 Congress (with Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency) passed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which capped the size of the House at 435 and established a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats. This cap has remained unchanged since then, except for a temporary increase to 437 members upon the 1959 admission of Alaska and Hawaii into the Union.[17]
Two states, Wyoming and Vermont, have populations smaller than the average for a single district, although neither state has fewer people than the least populous congressional districts.
Proposed expansion
Among the
After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.[18]
Taken at face-value, with the nation's population reaching approximately 308.7 million according to the
One proposal to alleviate the current constituency disparities and the high average number of constituents in many states' congressional districts is the "Wyoming rule." Operating similar to New Zealand's method of allocation for proportional representation, it would give the least populous state (which has been Wyoming since 1990) one representative and then create districts in other states with the same population.[24]
Another proposed expansion rule, the
On May 21, 2001, Rep.
In 2007, during the
Two provisions of Section 102, subsection (d) in the Washington, D.C., Admission Act by delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and its same-titled Senate companion by Sen. Tom Carper, both introduced in 2021 and again in 2023 during the 117th and 118th Congresses, seek to amend Section 22(a) of the Reapportionment Act by adding one to the permanent House membership for a total of 436 representatives as the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (i.e., Washington, D.C.) would have been entitled to an at-large district.[29][30] Holmes Norton's bill previously passed the House during the 116th Congress but not the Senate.[31]
Apportionment methods
State | Population percent | House percent | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2010 | 2019[note 1] | 2010 | |
California | 12.06% | 12.09% | 11.95% | 12.18% |
Texas | 8.85% | 8.16% | 8.74% | 8.28% |
Florida | 6.56% | 6.10% | 6.44% | 6.21% |
New York | 5.94% | 6.29% | 5.98% | 6.21% |
Pennsylvania | 3.91% | 4.12% | 3.91% | 4.14% |
Illinois | 3.87% | 4.16% | 3.91% | 4.14% |
Ohio | 3.57% | 3.74% | 3.68% | 3.68% |
Georgia | 3.24% | 3.14% | 3.22% | 3.22% |
North Carolina | 3.20% | 3.09% | 3.22% | 2.99% |
Michigan | 3.05% | 3.21% | 2.99% | 3.22% |
New Jersey | 2.71% | 2.85% | 2.76% | 2.76% |
Virginia | 2.61% | 2.60% | 2.53% | 2.53% |
Washington | 2.32% | 2.18% | 2.30% | 2.30% |
Arizona | 2.22% | 2.07% | 2.30% | 2.07% |
Massachusetts | 2.10% | 2.12% | 2.07% | 2.07% |
Tennessee | 2.09% | 2.06% | 2.07% | 2.07% |
Indiana | 2.06% | 2.10% | 2.07% | 2.07% |
Missouri | 1.87% | 1.94% | 1.84% | 1.84% |
Maryland | 1.85% | 1.87% | 1.84% | 1.84% |
Wisconsin | 1.78% | 1.85% | 1.84% | 1.84% |
Colorado | 1.76% | 1.63% | 1.84% | 1.61% |
Minnesota | 1.72% | 1.72% | 1.61% | 1.84% |
South Carolina | 1.57% | 1.50% | 1.61% | 1.61% |
Alabama | 1.50% | 1.55% | 1.61% | 1.61% |
Louisiana | 1.42% | 1.47% | 1.38% | 1.38% |
Kentucky | 1.36% | 1.41% | 1.38% | 1.38% |
Oregon | 1.29% | 1.24% | 1.38% | 1.15% |
Oklahoma | 1.21% | 1.22% | 1.15% | 1.15% |
Connecticut | 1.09% | 1.16% | 1.15% | 1.15% |
Utah | 0.98% | 0.90% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
Iowa | 0.96% | 0.99% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
Nevada | 0.94% | 0.88% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
Arkansas | 0.92% | 0.95% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
Mississippi | 0.91% | 0.96% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
Kansas | 0.89% | 0.93% | 0.92% | 0.92% |
New Mexico | 0.64% | 0.67% | 0.69% | 0.69% |
Nebraska | 0.59% | 0.59% | 0.69% | 0.69% |
West Virginia | 0.55% | 0.60% | 0.46% | 0.69% |
Idaho | 0.55% | 0.51% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
Hawaii | 0.43% | 0.44% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
New Hampshire | 0.42% | 0.43% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
Maine | 0.41% | 0.43% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
Montana | 0.33% | 0.32% | 0.46% | 0.23% |
Rhode Island | 0.32% | 0.34% | 0.23% | 0.46% |
Delaware | 0.30% | 0.29% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
South Dakota | 0.27% | 0.26% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
North Dakota | 0.23% | 0.22% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
Alaska | 0.22% | 0.23% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
Vermont | 0.19% | 0.20% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
Wyoming | 0.18% | 0.18% | 0.23% | 0.23% |
|
Apart from the requirement that each state is to be entitled to at least one representative in the House of Representatives, the number of representatives in each state is in principle to be proportional to its population. Since the adoption of the
The first apportionment was contained in Art. I, § 2, cl. 3 of the Constitution. After the first census in 1790, Congress passed the Apportionment Act of 1792 and adopted the Jefferson method to apportion U.S. representatives to the states based on population.[32] The Jefferson method required fractional remainders to be discarded when calculating each state's total number of U.S. representatives and was used until the 1830 census.[33][34][35][36] The Webster method, proposed in 1832 by Daniel Webster and adopted for the 1840 census, allocated an additional representative to states with a fractional remainder greater than 0.5.[37]
From 1850 to 1900, the situation was substantially less clear. Congress passed a law in 1850 declaring future apportionment would be done with
Method of equal proportions
The apportionment method currently used is the method of equal proportions, which minimizes the
In this method, as a first step, each of the 50 states is given its one guaranteed seat in the House of Representatives, leaving 385 seats to assign. The remaining seats are allocated one at a time, to the state with the highest priority number. Thus, the 51st seat would go to the most populous state (currently California). The priority number is determined by the ratio of the state population to the geometric mean of the number of seats it currently holds in the assignment process, n (initially 1), and the number of seats it would hold if the seat were assigned to it, n+1. Symbolically, the priority number An is
where P is the population of the state, and n is the number of seats it currently holds before the possible allocation of the next seat. An equivalent, recursive definition is
where n is still the number of seats the state has before allocation of the next (in other words, for the mth allocation, n = m-1).
Consider the reapportionment following the 2010 U.S. census: beginning with all states initially being allocated one seat, the largest value of A1 corresponds to the largest state, California, which is allocated seat 51. After being allocated its 2nd seat, its priority value decreases to its A2 value, which is reordered to a position back in line. The 52nd seat goes to Texas, the 2nd largest state, because its A1 priority value is larger than the An of any other state. However, the 53rd seat goes back to California because its A2 priority value is larger than the An of any other state. The 54th seat goes to New York because its A1 priority value is larger than the An of any other state at this point. This process continues until all remaining seats are assigned. Each time a state is assigned a seat, n is incremented by 1, causing its priority value to be reduced and reordered among the states, whereupon another state normally rises to the top of the list.
The 2010 census ranking of priority values[44] shows the order in which seats 51–435 were apportioned after the 2010 census, with additional listings for the next five priorities. Minnesota was allocated the final (435th) seat. North Carolina missed its 14th seat by 15,754 residents as the 436th seat to be allocated; ten years earlier it had gained its 13th seat as the 435th seat to be allocated based on the 2000 census.[45]
The 2020 census ranking of priority values[46] shows the order in which seats 51–435 were apportioned after the 2020 census, with additional listings for the next ten priorities. For the second time in a row, Minnesota was allocated the final (435th) seat. If either New York had registered 89 more residents or Minnesota had registered 26 fewer residents, New York would have been allocated the 435th seat instead.[47][48]
Past apportionments
Note: The first apportionment was established by the Constitution based on population estimates made by the
Bold indicates the largest number of representatives each state has had.
Statehood order |
Census | Const. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 15th[a] | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1789 | 1790 | 1800 | 1810 | 1820 | 1830 | 1840 | 1850 | 1860 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | |
Effected | 1789 | 1793 | 1803 | 1813 | 1823 | 1833 | 1843 | 1853 | 1863 | 1873 | 1883 | 1893 | 1903 | 1913 | 1933 | 1943 | 1953 | 1963 | 1973 | 1983 | 1993 | 2003 | 2013 | 2023 | |
Size | 65 | 105 | 142 | 182 | 213 | 240 | 223 | 234 | 241 | 292 | 325 | 356 | 386 | 435 | |||||||||||
State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | AL | – | – | – | – | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
49 | AK | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
48 | AZ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
25 | AR | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
31 | CA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 20 | 23 | 30 | 38 | 43 | 45 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 52 |
38 | CO | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
5 | CT | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
1 | DE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
27 | FL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 28 |
4 | GA | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
50 | HI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
43 | ID | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
21 | IL | – | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
19 | IN | – | – | – | – | 3 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
29 | IA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
34 | KS | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
15 | KY | – | 2 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
18 | LA | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
23 | ME | – | – | – | – | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
7 | MD | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
6 | MA | 8 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
26 | MI | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
32 | MN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
20 | MS | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
24 | MO | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
41 | MT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
37 | NE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
36 | NV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
9 | NH | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 | NJ | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 |
47 | NM | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
11 | NY | 6 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 34 | 40 | 34 | 33 | 31 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 37 | 43 | 45 | 45 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 34 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 26 |
12 | NC | 5 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
39 | ND | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
17 | OH | – | – | 1 | 6 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 |
46 | OK | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
33 | OR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
2 | PA | 8 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 28 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
13 | RI | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
8 | SC | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
40 | SD | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
16 | TN | – | – | 3 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
28 | TX | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 27 | 30 | 32 | 36 | 38 |
45 | UT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
14 | VT | – | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
10 | VA | 10 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
42 | WA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
35 | WV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
30 | WI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
44 | WY | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Changes per census
2010
On December 21, 2010, the
Gain four | Gain two | Gain one | No change | Lose one | Lose two |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Texas | 1. Florida | 1. Arizona 2. Georgia 3. Nevada 4. South Carolina 5. Utah 6. Washington |
(32 states) | 1. Illinois 2. Iowa 3. Louisiana 4. Massachusetts 5. Michigan 6. Missouri 7. New Jersey 8. Pennsylvania |
1. New York 2. Ohio |
+4 | +2 | +6 | −8 | −4 | |
+12 seats gained total | −12 seats lost total | ||||
2020
Apportionment results were released on April 26, 2021:
Gain two | Gain one | No change | Lose one |
---|---|---|---|
1. Texas | 1. Colorado 2. Florida 3. Montana 4. North Carolina 5. Oregon |
(37 states) | 1. California 2. Illinois 3. Michigan 4. New York 5. Ohio 6. Pennsylvania 7. West Virginia |
+2 | +5 | −7 | |
+7 seats gained total | −7 seats lost total | ||
List of apportionments
The size of the U.S. House of Representatives has increased and decreased as follows:[50]
Effective date | Size | Change | Legal provision | Reason and/or comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 4, 1789 | 59 | n/a | Const. Art. I, § 2, cl. 3 | Seats apportioned by the Constitution based on population estimates made by the Philadelphia Convention . Only 11 of the original 13 states had ratified the Constitution by this time.
|
November 21, 1789 | 64 | 5 | North Carolina ratified the Constitution with the seats apportioned by the Constitution. | |
May 29, 1790 | 65 | 1 | Rhode Island ratified the Constitution with the seat apportioned by the Constitution. | |
March 4, 1791 | 67 | 2 | 1 Stat. 191 | Vermont admitted. |
June 1, 1792 | 69 | 2 | Kentucky admitted. | |
March 4, 1793 | 105 | 36 | 1 Stat. 253 (Apportionment Act of 1792) | Apportionment following the first census (1790). First to use the Jefferson method. |
June 1, 1796 | 106 | 1 | 1 Stat. 491 | Tennessee admitted. |
March 1, 1803 | 107 | 1 | 2 Stat. 175 | Ohio admitted. |
March 4, 1803 | 142 | 35 | 2 Stat. 128 | Apportionment following the second census (1800). |
April 30, 1812 | 143 | 1 | 2 Stat. 703 | Louisiana admitted. |
March 4, 1813 | 182 | 39 | 2 Stat. 669 | Apportionment following the third census (1810). |
December 11, 1816 | 183 | 1 | 3 Stat. 290 | Indiana admitted. |
December 10, 1817 | 184 | 1 | 3 Stat. 349 | Mississippi admitted. |
December 3, 1818 | 185 | 1 | 3 Stat. 430 | Illinois admitted. |
December 14, 1819 | 186 | 1 | 3 Stat. 492 | Alabama admitted. |
March 15, 1820 | 3 Stat. 555 | Maine admitted, 7 seats transferred from Massachusetts. | ||
August 10, 1821 | 187 | 1 | 3 Stat. 547 | Missouri admitted. |
March 4, 1823 | 213 | 26 | 3 Stat. 651 | Apportionment following the fourth census (1820). |
March 4, 1833 | 240 | 27 | 4 Stat. 516 | Apportionment following the fifth census (1830). |
June 15, 1836 | 241 | 1 | 5 Stat. 51 | Arkansas admitted. |
January 26, 1837 | 242 | 1 | 5 Stat. 50 | Michigan admitted. |
March 4, 1843 | 223 | 19 | 5 Stat. 491 | Apportionment following the sixth census (1840). First to use the Webster method. Became the only time the size of the House was reduced, except for the minor readjustments in 1863 and 1963. |
March 3, 1845 | 224 | 1 | 5 Stat. 743 | Florida admitted. |
December 29, 1845 | 226 | 2 | 5 Stat. 798 | Texas annexed and admitted.
|
December 28, 1846 | 228 | 2 | 5 Stat. 743 9 Stat. 52 |
Iowa admitted. |
May 29, 1848 | 230 | 2 | 9 Stat. 58 9 Stat. 235 |
Wisconsin admitted. |
March 4, 1849 | 231 | 1 | 9 Stat. 235 | Additional seat apportioned to Wisconsin. |
September 9, 1850 | 233 | 2 | 9 Stat. 452 | California admitted. |
March 4, 1853 | 9 Stat. 432 | Apportionment following the largest remainder ) method.
| ||
234 | 1 | 10 Stat. 25 | Additional seat apportioned to California[b] | |
May 11, 1858 | 236 | 2 | 11 Stat. 166 | Minnesota admitted. |
February 14, 1859 | 237 | 1 | 11 Stat. 383 | Oregon admitted. |
January 29, 1861 | 238 | 1 | 12 Stat. 126 | Kansas admitted |
June 2, 1862 | 239 | 1 | 12 Stat. 411 | California apportioned an extra seat. |
March 4, 1863 | 233 | 6 | 9 Stat. 432 | Apportionment following the eighth census (1860), in accordance with the 1850 act, which provided for an apportionment of 233 seats. |
241 | 8 | 12 Stat. 353 | Supplemental apportionment of 8 seats (1 each for Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Vermont, and Rhode Island), for an overall increase of 2 seats in the 38th Congress. | |
June 20, 1863 | 12 Stat. 633 | West Virginia admitted, three seats transferred from Virginia. | ||
October 31, 1864 | 242 | 1 | 13 Stat. 32 | Nevada admitted |
March 1, 1867 | 243 | 1 | 14 Stat. 391 | Nebraska admitted |
March 4, 1873 | 283 | 40 | 17 Stat. 28 | Apportionment following the ninth census (1870), replacing the 1850 act |
292 | 9 | 17 Stat. 192 | Supplemental apportionment added one seat each for nine states | |
August 1, 1876 | 293 | 1 | 13 Stat. 34 | Colorado admitted |
March 4, 1883 | 325 | 32 | 22 Stat. 5 | Apportionment following the tenth census (1880). |
November 2, 1889 | 328 | 3 | 25 Stat. 679 | North and South Dakota admitted, with one and two seats respectively. |
November 8, 1889 | 329 | 1 | 25 Stat. 679 | Montana admitted. |
November 11, 1889 | 330 | 1 | 25 Stat. 679 | Washington admitted. |
July 3, 1890 | 331 | 1 | 26 Stat. 215 | Idaho admitted. |
July 10, 1890 | 332 | 1 | 26 Stat. 222 | Wyoming admitted. |
March 4, 1893 | 356 | 24 | 26 Stat. 735 | Apportionment following the eleventh census (1890). |
January 4, 1896 | 357 | 1 | 28 Stat. 109 | Utah admitted. |
March 4, 1903 | 386 | 29 | 31 Stat. 733 | Apportionment following the twelfth census (1900) |
November 16, 1907 | 391 | 5 | 34 Stat. 271 | Oklahoma admitted |
January 6, 1912 | 393 | 2 | 37 Stat. 39, incorporating 36 Stat. 557 | New Mexico admitted |
February 14, 1912 | 394 | 1 | Arizona admitted | |
March 4, 1913 | 435 | 41 | 37 Stat. 13 (Apportionment Act of 1911, §§1–2) | Apportionment following the thirteenth census (1910). Process returned to the Webster method. |
March 4, 1933 | 46 Stat. 26 (Reapportionment Act of 1929) | Apportionment following the fifteenth census (1930).[c] The size of the House became permanently capped at 435 seats under the Reapportionment Act of 1929. | ||
January 3, 1943 | 46 Stat. 26 (Reapportionment Act of 1929) 54 Stat. 162 |
Apportionment following the sixteenth census (1940). First to use the Huntington–Hill method. | ||
January 3, 1953 | 55 Stat. 761 | Apportionment following the seventeenth census (1950)[d] | ||
January 3, 1959 | 436 | 1 | 72 Stat. 345 | Alaska admitted. |
August 21, 1959 | 437 | 1 | 73 Stat. 8, §8 | Hawaii admitted. |
January 3, 1963 | 435 | 2 | 72 Stat. 345 73 Stat. 8 2 U.S.C. § 2a |
Apportionment following the eighteenth census (1960)[e] |
January 3, 1973 | 2 U.S.C. § 2a | Apportionment following the nineteenth census (1970). | ||
January 3, 1983 | Apportionment following the twentieth census (1980). | |||
January 3, 1993 | Apportionment following the twenty-first census (1990). | |||
January 3, 2003 | Apportionment following the twenty-second census (2000). | |||
January 3, 2013 | Apportionment following the twenty-third census (2010). | |||
January 3, 2023 | Apportionment following the twenty-fourth census (2020). |
See also
- List of U.S. states by population
- List of U.S. states by historical population(tables of state populations since 1790)
- Electoral vote changes between United States presidential elections
Notes
- Delegate counts in italics represent temporary counts assigned by Congress until the next decennial census or by the U.S. Constitution in 1789 until the first U.S. census.
- Elections held in the year of a census use the apportionment determined by the previous census.
- ^ Congress failed to pass any reapportionment to implement the 1920 United States census so despite population shift, distribution of seats from 1913 remained in effect until 1933.
- ^ The 1850 Apportionment bill provided a method to be used in future reapportionments, as well as establishing the then-current 233 as the number of seats to be apportioned after future censuses. Due to census returns being incomplete in California, an additional act provided that California retain the same representation it had when admitted, until a new census could be taken. California would otherwise have lost one seat, and so the total number of seats was increased by one to 234.
- ^ Congress failed to reapportion in 1923, following the fourteenth census (1920).
- Pub. L.77–291 amended section 22 of the Reapportionment Act of 1929by wholly replacing its text.
- Eighty-third Congress and each Congress thereafter."[51]
- Citations
- ^ a b c Kristin D. Burnett (November 1, 2011). "Congressional Apportionment (2010 Census Briefs C2010BR-08)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
- ^ The populations of Washington, D.C. and federal territories are not included in this figure.
- Public Law 62-5of 1911.
- ^ a b "The History of Apportionment in America". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
- Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
- ^ "Apportioning Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives Using the 2013 Estimated Citizen Population". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ 2 U.S.C. § 2c
- ^ Bush signs federalization bill Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Agnes E. Donato, Saipan Tribune, May 10, 2008.
- ^ Goldberg, Jonah (January 15, 2001). "George Will Called Me An Idiot". National Review. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
- ^ Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention - Tuesday September 17, 1787
- ^ a b "The Federalist #55". constitution.org. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ISSN 1945-2322.
- ^ a b DeSilver, Drew (May 31, 2018). "U.S. population keeps growing, but House of Representatives is same size as in Taft era". Pew Research Center.
- ^ Balinski, Michel; Young, H. Peyton. Fair Representation, Meeting The Ideal of One Man One vote". p. 51.
- ^ "Congressional Apportionment". NationalAtlas.gov. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
- ISSN 1942-5635.
- ^ "Proportional Representation". Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
- ^ "Constitutional Amendments Not Ratified". United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Stone, Lyman (October 17, 2018). "Pack the House: How to Fix the Legislative Branch". Mere Orthodoxy. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ^ Matthews, Dylan (June 4, 2018). "The case for massively expanding the US House of Representatives, in one chart". Vox. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ^ Hurlbut, Terry (April 16, 2015). "Packing the House?". Conservative News and Views. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-7006-2229-0.
- ^ "Madison Apportionment Amendment". genuineideas.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Steven (December 14, 2010). "Representation in the House: The Wyoming Rule". Outside the Beltway.
- ^ Kane, Caroline; Mascioli, Gianni; McGarry, Michael; Nagel, Meira (2020). Why the House of Representatives Must Be Expanded and How Today's Congress Can Make it Happen (PDF). Fordham University School of Law.
- ^ "The "Cube Root Rule": A Push to Make Congress More Representative?". IVN. Independent Voter Network. October 16, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ "FairVote - Hastings Letter". June 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 2, 2006. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ Marimow, Ann E.; Pershing, Ben (April 21, 2010). "Congressional leaders shelve D.C. voting rights bill". The Washington Post.
- ^ H.R. 51
- ^ S. 51
- ^ Millhiser, Ian (June 26, 2020). "DC is closer to becoming a state now than it has ever been". Vox.
- ^ 3 Annals of Cong. 539 (1792)
- ^ Act of Jan. 14, 1802, 2 Stat. 128
- ^ Act of Dec. 21, 1811, 2 Stat. 669
- ^ Act of Mar. 7, 1822, 3 Stat. 651
- ^ Act of May 22, 1832, 4 Stat. 516
- ^ Act of 25 June 1842, ch 46, 5 Stat. 491
- ISBN 0-8157-0090-3.
- ^ "Congressional Apportionment-Historical Perspective". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved October 27, 2013..
- ^ "2 USC §2a". Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ "Computing Apportionment". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ "Congressional Apportionment". NationalAtlas.gov. U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- PMID 16576591.
- ^ "Priority Values for 2010 Census" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of the Census. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ "Census 2000 Ranking of Priority Values". U.S. Bureau of the Census. February 21, 2001. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ "Priority Values for 2020 Census" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of the Census. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
- ^ Wang, Hansi Lo (May 1, 2021). "How 26 People In The Census Count Helped Minnesota Beat New York For A House Seat". Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ "Apportionment Population and Number of Representatives, by State: 2010 Census" (PDF). US Census. December 21, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 18, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
- ^ The Size of the U. S. House of Representatives and its Constituent State Delegations, thirty-thousand.org.
- ^ See, e.g., section 8 of the Hawaii Admission Act, 73 Stat. 8.
References
- Balinski, Michael L.; Young, H. Peyton (1982). Fair Representation: Meeting the Ideal of One Man, One Vote. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-8157-0090-3.
- Foster, Robert (1895). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: Historical and Judicial. Vol. 1. Boston: The Boston Book Co. pp. 329–446.
- ISBN 0-8239-5735-7.
- Edelman, Paul H. (2006). "Getting the Math Right: Why California Has Too Many Seats in the House of Representatives". Vanderbilt Law Review. 102 (March). Nashville: Vanderbilt University: 297.
- Kromkowski, Charles A.; Kromkowski, John A. (1991). "Why 435? A Question of Political Arithmetic" (PDF). Polity. 24 (Fall 1991): 129–145. S2CID 155209561. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- Agnew, Robert A. (2008). "Optimal Congressional Apportionment" (PDF). American Mathematical Monthly. 115 (April). Mathematical Association of America: 297–303. S2CID 14596741.
Further reading
- Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Taren (2004). "Counting Matters: Prison Inmates, Population Bases, and "One Person, One Vote"". Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law. 11 (Winter). Chicago: 229.