Members of the 111th Congress come from a variety of occupational backgrounds. As of the start of the 111th Congress, members of Congress include:
269 members (227 Representatives, two Delegates, and 40 Senators) served in state or territorial legislatures
214 members (182 Representatives and 33 Senators) list their occupation as public service/politics
225 (168 Representatives and 57 Senators) list law
201 (175 Representatives and 27 Senators) list business
94 (78 Representatives and 16 Senators) list education
At least 112 members of the 111th Congress were former congressional staffers, including nine congressional pages. Thirteen have served as White House staffers or White House Fellows, and several have served as executive branch employees
38 members have been mayors
24 members were health care professionals
Of the 24, 16 were medical doctors (14 Representatives and two Senators: family medicine specialists Rep. Vic Snyder, John C. Fleming, Paul Broun, and Del. Donna Christian-Christensen; psychiatrist Rep. Jim McDermott; ob/gyns Sen. Tom Coburn and Reps. Michael C. Burgess, Ron Paul, Phil Roe, and Phil Gingrey; allergist Rep. Steve Kagen; hepatologist/gastroenterologist Rep. Bill Cassidy; heart surgeon Rep. Charles Boustany; radiation oncologist Rep. Parker Griffith; orthopedic surgeons Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Tom Price). Of the 16, 12 represent districts or states in the South (three are from Louisiana); 12 are Republicans and four are Democrats.
Three nurses (Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, Lois Capps, and Eddie Bernice Johnson)
Two dentists (Reps. John Linder and Mike Simpson)
Two veterinarians (Rep. Kurt Schrader and Sen. John Ensign)
One psychologist (Rep. Brian Baird), an optometrist (Rep. John Boozman), a clinical dietician (Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper), and a pharmacist (Rep. Robert Marion Berry);
Nine members were involved with agriculture: Three organic farmers (including Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Mike Thompson), three ranchers, two vintners (Reps. George Radanovich and Mike Thompson), and a fruit orchard worker;
Seven members were involved in music, film, or sports, including two professional musicians and a semi-professional musician, a screenwriter, a documentary filmmaker, as well as a Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (Sen. Jim Bunning) and a National Football League quarterback (Rep. Heath Shuler).
Five members are engineers (including Reps. Joe Barton, Cliff Stearns, Pete Stark).
Six members are scientists: three physicists (Reps. Rush Holt, Bill Foster, and Vern Ehlers), a chemist (Rep. Ed Pastor), a microbiologist (Rep. Louise Slaughter), and a physiologist (Rep. Roscoe Bartlett).
Six members worked in media: One radio talk show host, one radio/television broadcaster, one radio broadcaster, one newscaster, one television reporter, and one television commentator
Five members are former Peace Corps volunteers (Sen. Chris Dodd and Reps. Mike Honda, Sam Farr, Tom Petri, and Steve Driehaus)
Five members are former accountants
Four members are ministers
Four members were sheriffs (Rep. Dave Reichert), one a deputy sheriff, four police officers (including a Capitol policeman), two state troopers (Rep. Kendrick Meek of the Florida Highway Patrol and Rep. Bart Stupak of the Michigan State Police), two probation officers, one FBI special agent, one Border Patrol chief, and one volunteer firefighter
Two members have served as members of the Cabinet (Sens. Lamar Alexander and Mike Johanns), three served as state supreme court justices (Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Sen. John Cornyn), and one each was Secretary of the Navy (Sen. Jim Webb), a United States Navy vice admiral, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, a Department of Defense counterterrorism consultant, an ambassador, and a federal judge (Alcee Hastings)
One member served as a parliamentary aide in the British House of Commons and one served as a Foreign Service Officer.
One member has been an astronaut, one a naval aviator, one a commander of a carrier battle group (Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired vice admiral and the highest-ranking former serviceman in Congress), two were instructors at West Point (Rep. Patrick Murphy)and (Rep. Thomas Rooney), and one a pilot of Marine One, the presidential helicopter
Many members have other professions: There were three carpenters, two bank tellers, a driving instructor, a cosmetics saleswoman, a mountain guide, a ski instructor; a casino dealer, a night watchman, a prison guard, a furniture salesman, an ironworker (Rep. Stephen Lynch), an autoworker, a clothing factory worker, a textile worker, an oilfield worker, a mortician, a coroner, a waitress (Rep. Shelley Berkley), a Teamster and dairy worker, a paper mill worker (Rep. Mike Michaud), a cement plant worker (Rep. Maurice Hinchey), a meat cutter (Sen. Robert Byrd), a shellfish specialist (Rep. Rob Wittman), a tugboat captain (Rep. Don Young), a taxicab driver, an auctioneer, a toll booth collector, and a hotel clerk.
