U.S. Hispanics of Cuban Origin in the United States, 2007 - A
total of 1.6 million Hispanics of Cuban origin resided in the United
States in 2007, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community
Survey. Cubans in this statistical profile are people who
self-identified as Hispanics of Cuban origin; this means either they
themselves are Cuban immigrants or they trace their family ancestry to
Cuba. Cubans are the third-largest population of Hispanic origin living
in the United States, accounting for 3.5% of the U.S. Hispanic
population in 2007.
This statistical profile compares the demographic, income and economic
characteristics of the Cuban population with the characteristics of all
Hispanics and the U.S. population overall. It is based on Pew Hispanic
Center tabulations of the 2007 American Community Survey. Key facts
include:
Immigration status. Six-in-ten Cubans (60.7%) in the United
States are foreign born compared with 39.8% of Hispanics and 12.6% of
the U.S. population overall. Most immigrants from Cuba (56.7%) arrived
in the U.S. before 1990. Most Cuban immigrants (57.4%) are U.S.
citizens.
Language. A majority of Cubans (56.7%) speak
English proficiently.2 Some 43.3% of Cubans ages 5 and older report
speaking English less than very well, compared with 38.8% of all
Hispanics.
Age. Cubans are older than the U.S. population
and Hispanics overall. The median age of Cubans is 40; the median ages
of the U.S. population and all Hispanics are 36 and 27, respectively.
Marital status. Cubans are more likely than Hispanics overall to be married—50.6% versus 47.3%.
Fertility.
One-quarter (25.3%) of Cuban women ages 15 to 44 who gave birth in the
12 months prior to the survey were unmarried. That was less than the
rate for all Hispanic women—38.1%—and the rate for U.S. women—33.4%.
Regional
dispersion. Cubans are the most geographically concentrated Hispanic
origin group. Nearly seven-in-ten (68.7%) live in Florida.
Educational
attainment. Cubans have higher levels of education than the Hispanic
population overall. Twenty-five percent of Cubans ages 25 and
older—compared with 12.6% of all U.S. Hispanics—have obtained at least
a bachelor’s degree.
Income. The median annual personal
earnings for Cubans ages 16 and older were $26,310 in 2007; the median
earnings for all U.S. Hispanics were $21,048.
Poverty
status. The share of Cubans who live in poverty, 12.3%, is similar to
that of the general U.S. population (11.9%) and below the 19.5% share
among all Hispanics.
Homeownership. The rate of Cuban
homeownership (61.1%) is higher than the rate for all Hispanics (49.9%)
but lower than the 67.2% rate for the U.S. population as a whole.
About the Data - This statistical profile of Hispanics of Cuban
origin is based on the Census Bureau's 2007 American Community Survey
(ACS). The ACS is the largest household survey in the United States,
with a sample of about 3 million addresses. The data used for this
statistical profile come from 2007 ACS Integrated Public Use Microdata
Series (IPUMS), representing a 1% sample of the U.S. population.
