This is a classification of United States Senators by seniority during the 81st Congress, from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1951.
Order of service is based on the commencement of the senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a senator (only giving the Senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as Vice President, a House member, a Cabinet secretary, or a governor of a state. The final factor is the population of the senator's state.
Senators who were sworn in in the middle of the two-year Congressional term (up until the last senator who was not sworn in early after winning the November 1950 election) are listed at the end of the list with no number.
| Rank | Name | Seniority Date | Other Factors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth McKellar (D-TN) | March 4, 1917 | |
| 2 | Walter F. George (D-GA) | November 22, 1922 | |
| 3 | Carl Hayden (D-AZ) | March 4, 1927 | Former Rep (15 Years), Maryland |
| 4 | Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) | Former Rep (14 Years) | |
| 5 | Elmer Thomas (D-OK) | Former Rep (4 Years), Oklahoma 21st Population (1920) | |
| 6 | Millard Tydings (D-MD) | Former Rep (4 Years), Maryland 28th Population (1920) | |
| 7 | Robert F. Wagner (D-NY) | ||
| 8 | Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) | March 31, 1928 | |
| 9 | Tom Connally (D-TX) | March 4, 1929 | |
| 10 | Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) | March 4, 1933 | |
| 11 | Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA) | January 12, 1933 | |
| 12 | Harry F. Byrd Sr. (D-VA) | March 4, 1933 | Former Governor |
| 13 | Pat McCarran (D-NV) | ||
| 14 | Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D-WY) | January 1, 1934 | |
| 15 | James Murray (D-MT) | November 7, 1934 | |
| 16 | Dennis Chavez (D-NM) | May 11, 1935 | |
| 17 | Claude Pepper (D-FL) | November 4, 1936 | |
| 18 | Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) | January 3, 1937 | Former Governor, Colorado 33rd Population (1930) |
| 19 | Theodore F. Green (D-RI) | Former Governor, Rhode Island 37th Population (1930) | |
| 20 | Styles Bridges (R-NH) | Former Governor, New Hampshire 41st Population (1930) | |
| 21 | Allen J. Ellender (D-LA) | ||
| 22 | Joseph Hill (D-AL) | January 11, 1938 | |
| 23 | Scott W. Lucas (D-IL) | January 3, 1939 | Former Rep (4 Years) |
| 24 | Charles W. Tobey (R-NH) | Former Rep (2 Years), Former Governor | |
| 25 | Clyde M. Reed (R-KS) | Former Governor | |
| 26 | Robert Taft (R-OH) | Ohio 4th Population (1930) | |
| 27 | Sheridan Downey (D-CA) | California 6th Population (1930) | |
| 28 | Alexander Wiley (R-WI) | Wisconsin 13th Population (1930) | |
| 29 | John Chandler Gurney (R-SD) | South Dakota 36th Population (1930) | |
| 30 | Ralph Owen Brewster (R-ME) | January 3, 1941 | Former Governor, Maine 35th Population (1930) |
| 31 | William Langer (R-ND) | Former Governor, North Dakota 38th Population (1930) | |
| 32 | Harley M. Kilgore (D-WV) | West Virginia 27th Population (1930) | |
| 33 | Hugh A. Butler (R-NE) | Nebraska 32nd Population (1930) | |
| 34 | Ernest McFarland (D-AZ) | Arizona 43rd Population (1930) | |
| 35 | George Aiken (R-VT) | January 10, 1941 | |
| 36 | Burnet R. Maybank (D-SC) | November 5, 1941 | |
| 37 | Eugene D. Millikin (R-CO) | December 20, 1941 | |
| 38 | James Eastland (D-MS) | January 3, 1943 | Previously A Senator |
| 39 | Homer S. Ferguson (R-MI) | Michigan 7th Population (1940) | |
| 40 | John Little McClellan (D-AR) | Arkansas 25th Population (1940) | |
| 41 | Kenneth S. Wherry (R-NE) | Nebraska 32nd Population (1940) | |
| 42 | Guy Cordon (R-OR) | March 4, 1944 | |
| 43 | Howard A. Smith (R-NJ) | December 7, 1944 | |
| 44 | Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) | December 14, 1944 | |
| 45 | Francis J. Myers (D-PA) | January 3, 1945 | Former Rep (6 Years) |
| 46 | J. William Fulbright (D-AR) | Former Rep (2 Years) | |
| 47 | Clyde R. Hoey (D-NC) | Former Governor | |
| 48 | Homer E. Capehart (R-IN) | Indiana 12th Population (1940) | |
| 49 | Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-IA) | Former Governor, Iowa 20th Population (1940) | |
| 50 | Olin D. Johnston (D-SC) | Former Governor, South Carolina 26th Population (1940) | |
| 51 | Brien McMahon (D-CT) | Connecticut 31st Population (1940) | |
| 52 | Wayne Morse (D-OR) | Oregon 34th Population (1940) | |
| 53 | Glen H. Taylor (D-ID) | Idaho 42nd Population (1940) | |
| 54 | Leverett Saltonstall (R-MA) | January 10, 1945 | Former Governor, Massachusetts 8th Population (1940) |
| 55 | Forrest C. Donnell (R-MO) | Former Governor, Missouri 10th Population (1940) | |
| 56 | Milton Young (R-ND) | March 12, 1945 | |
| 57 | William F. Knowland (R-CA) | August 26, 1945 | |
| 58 | Spessard Holland (D-FL) | September 24, 1946 | |
| 59 | Ralph Flanders (R-VT) | November 1, 1946 | |
| 60 | A. Willis Robertson (D-VA) | November 6, 1946 | Former Rep (13 Years, 10 Months) |
| 61 | John Sparkman (D-AL) | Former Rep (9 Years, 10 Months) | |
| 62 | Harry P. Cain (R-WA) | December 26, 1946 | |
| 63 | Raymond E. Baldwin (R-CT) | December 27, 1946 | |
| 64 | Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R-MA) | January 3, 1947 | Previously a Senator (7 Years, 1 Month) |
| 65 | William E. Jenner (R-IN) | Previously a Senator (2 Months) | |
| 66 | Edward Martin (R-PA) | Former Governor, Pennsylvania 2nd Population (1940) | |
| 67 | John W. Bricker (R-OH) | Former Goveror, Ohio 4th Population (1940) | |
| 68 | Edward John Thye (R-MN) | Former Goveror, Minnesota 18th Population (1940) | |
| 69 | Herbert O'Conor (D-MD) | Former Goveror, Maryland 28th Population (1940) | |
| 70 | Irving Ives (R-NY) | New York 1st Population (1940) | |
| 71 | James P. Kem (R-MO) | Missouri 10th Population (1940) | |
| 72 | Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) | Wisconsin 13th Population (1940) | |
| 73 | J. Howard McGrath (D-RI) | Rhode Island 36th Population (1940) | |
| 74 | Zales Ecton (R-MT) | Montana 39th Population (1940) | |
| 75 | Arthur Vivian Watkins (R-UT) | Utah 40th Population (1940) | |
| 76 | John J. Williams (R-DE) | Delaware 47th Population (1940) | |
| 77 | George W. Malone (R-NV) | Nevada 48th Population (1940) | |
| 78 | John C. Stennis (D-MS) | November 17, 1947 | |
| 79 | Karl Mundt (R-SD) | December 31, 1948 | Former Rep (9 Years) |
| 80 | J. Melville Broughton (D-NC) | Former Governor | |
| 81 | Russell B. Long (D-LA) | ||
| 82 | Matthew M. Neely (D-WV) | January 3, 1949 | Previously a Senator (twice) (total tenure 15 Years, 10 Months) |
| 83 | Guy Mark Gillette (D-IA) | Previously a Senator (8 Years, 2 Months) | |
| 84 | Virgil Chapman (D-KY) | Former Rep (24 Years) | |
| 85 | Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) | Former Rep (12 Years) | |
| 86 | Estes Kefauver (D-TN) | Former Rep (10 Years) | |
| 87 | Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) | Former Rep (8 Years, 7 Months) | |
| 88 | Clinton Anderson (D-NM) | Former Cabinet Secretary | |
| 89 | Robert S. Kerr (D-OK) | Former Governor, Oklahoma 22nd Population (1940) | |
| 90 | Andrew F. Schoeppel (R-KS) | Former Governor, Kansas 29th Population (1940) | |
| 91 | Lester C. Hunt (D-WY) | Former Governor, Wyoming 46th Population (1940) | |
| 92 | Paul Douglas (D-IL) | Illinois 3rd Population (1940) | |
| 93 | Robert C. Hendrickson (R-NJ) | New Jersey 9th Population (1940) | |
| 94 | Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) | Minnesota 18th Population (1940) | |
| 95 | Bert H. Miller (D-ID) | Idaho 42nd Population (1940) | |
| 96 | Joseph Frear, Jr. (D-DE) | Delaware 47th Population (1940) | |
| Garrett L. Withers (D-KY) | January 20, 1949 | ||
| Frank Porter Graham (D-NC) | March 29, 1949 | ||
| John Foster Dulles (R-NY) | July 8, 1949 | ||
| Edward L. Leahy (D-RI) | August 24, 1949 | ||
| Henry Dworshak (R-ID) | October 14, 1949 | ||
| Herbert H. Lehman (D-NY) | November 9, 1949 | ||
| William Benton (D-CT) | December 17, 1949 | ||
| Harry Darby (R-KS) | December 2, 1949 |
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