2012 - 2020 Federal Representation
by People per House Seat, Senate Seat,
and Electors

Sorted by People per House Seat

In the wake of Election 2000, there has been a lot of talk about the "unfairness" of the Electoral College. However, the United States is a Republic. Each state receives one Elector for each Senator and one Elector for each Representative it sends to Congress. The District of Columbia has 3 Electors, 0 Senators, and 0 Representatives.

"Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress;..." (Article II, Section. 1. of the Constitution).
"A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State;..." (Amendment XXIII. of the Constitution, ratified March 29, 1961)

If then, there is "unfairness" in the allocation of the Electoral College, there must also be "unfairness" in the allocation of Congress. A minimum one Representative per State, regardless of its population, could also be construed as unfair (note that almost all the States are in the one Congressman per 600 to 700-something thousand range... note the disparities from that re: those States that have 1 Representative which is even more exacerbated with their 3 Electoral Votes).

This page allows you to sort the states alphabetically, by population, and by people per Elector, Senator, and House Member. Note: The Apportionment Population is shown for each state while the Resident Population is used for DC (the apportionment population excludes the population of the District of Columbia).

References:

 
  (sort) (sort)   (sort)   (sort) (sort) Sorted by
Rank State Population Percentage
of
Population		 Electors People
per
Elector		 Senators People
per
Senate
seat		 House
seats		 People
per
House
seat
1Montana994,4160.32%3331,4722497,2081994,416
2Delaware900,8770.29%3300,2922450,4391900,877
3South Dakota819,7610.26%3273,2542409,8811819,761
4Idaho1,573,4990.51%4393,3752786,7502786,750
5Oregon3,848,6061.24%7549,80121,924,3035769,721
6Iowa3,053,7870.99%6508,96521,526,8944763,447
7Louisiana4,553,9621.47%8569,24522,276,9816758,994
8Oklahoma3,764,8821.22%7537,84021,882,4415752,976
9Missouri6,011,4781.94%10601,14823,005,7398751,435
10Mississippi2,978,2400.96%6496,37321,489,1204744,560
11North Carolina9,565,7813.09%15637,71924,782,89113735,829
12New Jersey8,807,5012.84%14629,10724,403,75112733,958
13Arkansas2,926,2290.94%6487,70521,463,1154731,557
14Virginia8,037,7362.59%13618,28724,018,86811730,703
15Massachusetts6,559,6442.12%11596,33123,279,8229728,849
16Kentucky4,350,6061.40%8543,82622,175,3036725,101
17Maryland5,789,9291.87%10578,99322,894,9658723,741
18Ohio11,568,4953.73%18642,69425,784,24816723,031
19Indiana6,501,5822.10%11591,05323,250,7919722,398
20Alaska721,5230.23%3240,5082360,7621721,523
21Colorado5,044,9301.63%9560,54822,522,4657720,704
22New York19,421,0556.27%29669,69229,710,52827719,298
23Connecticut3,581,6281.16%7511,66121,790,8145716,326
24Kansas2,863,8130.92%6477,30221,431,9074715,953
25Illinois12,864,3804.15%20643,21926,432,19018714,688
26Arizona6,412,7002.07%11582,97323,206,3509712,522
27Wisconsin5,698,2301.84%10569,82322,849,1158712,279
28Tennessee6,375,4312.06%11579,58523,187,7169708,381
29Michigan9,911,6263.20%16619,47724,955,81314707,973
30Pennsylvania12,734,9054.11%20636,74526,367,45318707,495
31California37,341,98912.05%55678,945218,670,99553704,566
32Texas25,268,4188.16%38664,958212,634,20936701,901
33Florida18,900,7736.10%29651,75129,450,38727700,029
34Georgia9,727,5663.14%16607,97324,863,78314694,826
35Utah2,770,7650.89%6461,79421,385,3834692,691
36New Mexico2,067,2730.67%5413,45521,033,6373689,091
37Alabama4,802,9821.55%9533,66522,401,4917686,140
38Hawaii1,366,8620.44%4341,7162683,4312683,431
39Nevada2,709,4320.87%6451,57221,354,7164677,358
40North Dakota675,9050.22%3225,3022337,9531675,905
41Washington6,753,3692.18%12562,78123,376,68510675,337
42Maine1,333,0740.43%4333,2692666,5372666,537
43Minnesota5,314,8791.72%10531,48822,657,4408664,360
44South Carolina4,645,9751.50%9516,21922,322,9887663,711
45New Hampshire1,321,4450.43%4330,3612660,7232660,723
46Vermont630,3370.20%3210,1122315,1691630,337
47West Virginia1,859,8150.60%5371,9632929,9083619,938
48Nebraska1,831,8250.59%5366,3652915,9133610,608
49Wyoming568,3000.18%3189,4332284,1501568,300
50Rhode Island1,055,2470.34%4263,8122527,6242527,624
51District of Columbia601,7230.19%3200,5740 0 
Totals309,785,186100.00%538 100 435 
State Average (1)   487,971 3,091,835 712,973
Country Average (2)   575,809 3,091,835 710,767
 

(1) The averages are computed by weighing each state equally. The District of Columbia is included in the Elector compuatations but not in the Senate or House computations.

  • People Per Elector = Sum of (People per Elector) ÷ 51 jurisdictions
  • People Per Senate Seat = Sum of (People per Senate Seat) ÷ 50 jurisdictions
  • People Per House Seat = Sum of (People per House Seat) ÷ 50 jurisdictions

(2) The averages are computed using the total population of country. The District of Columbia is included in the Elector compuatations but not in the Senate or House computations.

  • People Per Elector = Population of 309,785,186 ÷ 538 electors
  • People Per Senate Seat = Population of 309,183,463 ÷ 100 Senate Seats
  • People Per House Seat = Population of 309,183,463 ÷ 435 House Seats
 
 

  United States Census 2010 Home  
 
  State Population and the Distribution of Electoral Votes and Representatives  
  2012 - 2020 Federal Representation by People per House Seat, Senate Seat, and Electors  
 
  An Historical Analysis of the Electoral College  
 
  The Math Behind the 2010 Census Apportionment of Representatives  
  PERL script used to generate the Apportionment