How many total members are in the House of Representatives?

The total number of members in the House of Representatives is 435. This number has been established since the Reapportionment Act of 1929, which set a permanent size for the House. The representation is distributed among the states based on their population as determined by the decennial census. Each state is guaranteed at least one representative, but larger states with bigger populations have more representatives.

Understanding this structure is crucial because it reflects how legislative power is distributed in the U.S. government. The House of Representatives plays a key role in creating and passing laws, and its composition is designed to ensure that diverse interests from different states are represented in the federal legislative process.