Unequal Senate Representation

According to 2015 estimates, the population of the U.S. is 320,746,592.

The five biggest states, by population, are California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois. Combined population: 119,540,990. Number of U.S. senators: 10. Each senator represents approximately 12 million people.

The five smallest states, by population, are Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Combined population: 3,565,977 (about the population of Connecticut). Number of U.S. senators: 10. Each senator represents approximately 350,000 people.

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Adding the five next-most-populous states -- Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan, the ten most populous states have a combined population of 174,137,154. Number of U.S. senators: 20. Each senator represents approximately 8.5 million people.

The five next-least-populous states are Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire. The ten least populous states have a combined population of 9,261,094 (about the population of New Jersey). Number of U.S. senators: 20. Each senator represents approximately 460,000 people.

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So 350,000 people have the same senate representation as 12,000,000 people; 460,000 people have the same representation as 8,500,000 people. This imbalance obviously gives greatly outsized political power to rural (mostly white) voters, at the expense of urban voters, more diverse in ethnicity.