How does population change the members of Congress?

Answer 1

The number of Representatives in the US House is set by law at 435 members. Based on new census numbers every ten years, the house districts are re-allocated between the states to create districts of even populations. Since some states have big increases in population while others may have declining populations, there is generally a shift in the number of congressional seats among the states, with some states gaining seats and others losing seats.

Each district represents approximately 700,000 people. California currently has 53 congressional districts, while Vermont and Wyoming have only one each.

Answer 2

Every Congressional representative represents one congressional district. These districts are created to have equal populations so far as possible within the restriction that every state must have at least one district and districts can not cross state lines. There are always 435 congressional districts. Every 10 years a new census is taken and the number of districts allotted to each state is determined. The state legislatures then divide their state up to create the required number of districts, each of approximately equal population. The party controlling the legislation will also try to chose the district boundaries in such a way that their party will win the most districts. One way to do this is to make certain districts very strongly opposition, but give the majority of the districts a reasonable majority of favorable votes. They also try to disrupt opposition districts such as by combining two of them, or splitting one and combining the parts with favorable areas.