The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated.

Note: Republican Nicholas Longworth, the Speaker of the House in the previous Congress, was Speaker-presumptive with his party's mere three-seat majority.

However, Longworth died on April 9, 1931, and by the time the 72nd Congress convened in December 1931, Democrats had gained four seats from Republicans through special elections following deaths, thus becoming the majority party in the House.

Senators were elected every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress.

The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by an "At-large," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.