‘how many kids should I have?‘ is a question that’s commonly asked by those thinking about having children.
But have you ever wondered what the 100 US senators think when it comes to this topic?
We wanted to answer this question by researching how many kids each senator has, which is an already publicly-available information. Then, we analyzed all the data to compare the numbers between the different senators, states, parties, regions and see if there are any interesting trends.
Before moving on, some things to keep in mind about the research:
- Foster kids, if any, were not counted
- If it’s unknown whether a senator has any kids, we assumed they have zero
- The two independent senators were counted as democrats.
With that said, here are the research findings.
Note: If you’re looking for the main findings in a graphic format, you may skip to the bottom of the page.
Number of Children Each State Senator Has
Here is a US map that shows the number of kids per senator in every state, which ranges between zero and five.
Percentage of Senators by Number of Children
| Number of Kids | # Senators | Percent of Senators |
| 0 | 11 | 11% |
| 1 | 11 | 11% |
| 2 | 34 | 34% |
| 3 | 27 | 27% |
| 4 | 11 | 11% |
| 5 | 6 | 6% |
As indicated above, the majority of US senators (61%) have 2-3 children.
11% of all senators don’t have any children, while 17% have four or more.
The percentage of senators that have more kids than the average (i.e. three or more) is 44%.
44% of US senators seem to prefer having at least three children in their family.
Comparison of Senators’ Number of Children by Party
| Number of Kids | Democratic Senators | Republican Senators |
| 0 | 16% (8) | 6% (3) |
| 1 | 14% (7) | 8% (4) |
| 2 | 40% (20) | 28% (14) |
| 3 | 22% (11) | 32% (16) |
| 4 | 4% (2) | 18% (9) |
| 5 | 4% (2) | 8% (4) |
The data shows that republican senators tend to have more kids as compared to democratic senators.
Senators that have zero or one child constitute 30% in the Democratic Party and only 14% in the Republican Party.
When it comes to senators with four or more kids, the percentage is 8% for democrats and 26% for republicans.
Republican senators appear to favor having more children as compared to democratic senators e.g. senators with at least four kids constitute 26% of republicans but only 8% of democrats.
Percentage of Senators with More Kids by US Region
We wanted to know if there are regions in the US where senators prefer to have more children.
The Midwest has the highest amount of senators that have four or more children (29%), followed by the West (18%).
The region with the lowest number of senators with 4+ kids is the Southeast (8%).
The Midwest overall has the greatest number of senators with four and more children (29%) compared to other US regions.
Average Number of Kids Per Senator in Each State
| Average # Kids per Senator | States |
| 0 | South Carolina |
| 0.5 | Nevada |
| 1 | Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico |
| 1.5 | Georgia, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin |
| 2 | Alabama, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming |
| 2.5 | Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio |
| 3 | Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia |
| 3.5 | Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania |
| 4 | Idaho, Indiana, Utah |
States whose senators have the highest number of children on average are Idaho, Utah and Indiana. They’re unsurprisingly republican states and their senators have an average of four kids.
The state with the lowest number of children on average for senators is South Carolina. Even though it’s a republican state, it’s the only state where both senators don’t have any kids.
Other states with a pretty low average number of children per senator include Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico. They’re all democratic states and their senators have an average of one kid or fewer.
South Carolina is the only state where both senators don’t have any kids.
Kindly note the averages above were calculated by simply adding the number of kids for both senators in the state then dividing the value by two. That’s why there are numbers with a decimal of 0.5 (which obviously doesn’t make sense for the number of children). Those numbers were used only for comparison and ranking purposes.
Conclusion
There you have it, the number of kids each US senator has. Additionally, we found some other interesting findings which include the following:
- Percentage of senators that seem to prefer a higher number of kids (44%)
- Which party senators tend to have more children (republicans)
- Which region has the highest percentage of senators with more kids (Midwest)
- States whose senators have the highest and lowest number of kids on average (Idaho, Indiana, Utah vs. South Carolina)
We hope this content about the senate’s kids was fun for you. It may even help you to decide on the number of children you yourself should have!
Below is a beautiful infographic that summarizes the research findings.
