Democratic House members represent some of the country's most affluent people, taking that distinction from Republicans, a U.S. Census data review indicates.

Democrats in the House today represent a combination of both the wealthiest and poorest districts across the nation, a different composition than in 2005, a USA Today analysis of Census data indicated Wednesday.

Democrats now represent 57 percent of the 4.8 million households that had incomes of $200,000 or more in 2008. In 2005, Republicans represented 55 percent of those affluent households.

"Democrats have made enormous gains in affluent, educated suburban districts," says Warren Glimpse, founder of Proximity, a firm that analyzes demographics. "What's not clear is whether this reflects a profound change or a temporary blip."

Dave Wasserman of the non-partisan Cook Political Report said the combination of wealthy and poor is a good coalition for Democrats.

"The story is really education," Wasserman told USA Today, adding, "educated, wine-drinking Democrats" and poorer minority voters heft some weight because both groups are growing in numbers.

Besides indicating Democrats represent the top 10 and bottom 10 districts ranked by the percentage of people holding advanced degrees, Census data show Democrats represent the 10 districts with the highest levels of health coverage and nine of the 10 with the lowest.