Cuban Americans

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Cuban Americans
Total population
0.64% of the U.S. population (2014)[1]Location of Cuba)
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in Miami/Fort Lauderdale Area, Tampa, Northern New Jersey, New York. Growing populations in California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Spanish, English

Roman Catholicism

Protestantism, Santería, Irreligion
Related ethnic groups
Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, Hispanics
Afro-Cuban, Jewish Cuban, Chinese Cuban

Cuban Americans (Spanish: Cubanoamericanos)[2] are Americans who trace their national origin to Cuba; and even though they identify themselves as Cubans. Cuban Americans form a distantly third largest Hispanic group in the United States, but nonetheless the largest group of Hispanics of European ancestry (predominantly Spanish) as a percentage but not in numbers.[3][4]

Many communities throughout the United States have significant Cuban-American populations.[5] Florida has the highest concentration of Cuban-Americans in the U.S.,[6][7] standing out in part because of its proximity to Cuba.

South Florida is followed by the Tampa and North Hudson, New Jersey, particularly Union City and West New York.[5] With a population of 141,250, the New York metropolitan area's Cuban community is the largest outside of Florida. Nearly 70% of all Cuban Americans live in Florida.[7]


See also: Cuban exile

Early migrations[edit]


Thousands of Cuban settlers also immigrated to Louisiana between 1778 and 1802 and Texas during the period of Spanish rule.[citation needed] Since 1820 the Cuban presence was more than 1,000 people. In 1870 the number of Cuban immigrants increased to almost 12,000, of which about 4,500 resided in New York, about 3,000 in New Orleans, and 2,000 in Key West. The causes of these movements were both economic and political, which intensified after 1860, when political factors played the predominant role in emigration, as a result of deteriorating relations with the Spanish metropolis.





Key West and Tampa, Florida[edit]



Both Ybor City and West Tampa were instrumental in Cuba's eventual independence.[9] Inspired by revolutionaries such as Jose Martí, who visited Florida several times, Tampa-area Cubans and their sympathetic neighbors donated money, equipment, and sometimes their lives to the cause of Cuba Libre.[10] After the Spanish–American War, some Cubans returned to their native land, but many chose to stay in the U.S. due to the physical and economic devastation caused by years of fighting on the island.[11]

Other early waves (1900–1959)[edit]




Post-Castro revolution (1959-)[edit]




It was not until the exodus of the Cuban exiles in 1959 that Miami started to become a preferred destination. Westchester, Florida within Miami-Dade County, was the area most densely populated by Cubans and Cuban Americans in the United States, followed by Hialeah, Florida in second.[15]

Communities like Miami, Tampa, and Union City, which Cuban-Americans have made their home, have experienced a profound cultural impact as a result, as seen in such aspects of their local culture as cuisine, fashion, music, entertainment and cigar-making.[16][17]




Mid-1990s to 2000s[edit]


Jorge Ferragut, a Cuban immigrant who founded Casa Cuba, an agency that assists Cuban immigrants arriving in Texas, said in a 2008 article that many Cuban immigrants of the first decade of the 21st century left due to economic instead of political issues.[19] By October 2008 Mexico and Cuba created an agreement to prevent immigration of Cubans through Mexico.[20][21]


Immigration policy[edit]


According to a U.S. Census 1970 report, Cuban Americans as well as Latinos lived in all 50 states. But as later Census reports demonstrated, the majority of Cuban immigrants settled in south Florida. A new trend in the late 1990s showed that fewer immigrants arrived from Cuba than previously. While U.S. born Cuban Americans moved out of their enclaves, other nationalities settled there.[citation needed]





More recently,[when?] there has been substantial growth of new Cuban-American communities in places like Louisville, Kentucky, the Research Triangle area of North Carolina,[23] Katy, Texas, and Downey, California; the latter city now having the second highest percentage of Cubans and Cuban Americans in the Western United States at 1.96% of the population.[15]

Cuban Americans have been very successful in establishing businesses and developing political clout by transforming Miami from a beach retirement community into a modern city with a younger demographic base with a distinct Caribbean flavor. Cuban Americans have also contributed to and participated in many areas of American life including academia, business, acting, politics, and literature.[citation needed] [24]


In the census in 2000 there were 1,241,685 Cuban Americans, and in the 2010 census there were 1,785,547 (both native and foreign born), and represented 3.5% of all Hispanics, and 0.58% of the US population. About 85% of Cuban Americans identify themselves as being White, mostly Spanish, which is the highest proportion of all other major Hispanic groups. In Florida, Cuban Americans have cultural ties with the state's large Spanish American or European Spanish community. In the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS), there were 1,611,478 Americans with national origins in Cuba. 983,147 were born abroad in Cuba, 628,331 were U.S born and of the 1.6 million, 415,212 were not U.S citizens.[25] In the 2013 ACS, there were 2,013,155 Cuban Americans.

U.S. states with largest Cuban populations[edit]

The Top 10 US states with the largest Cuban populations are: [26]

State/Territory Cuban-American
Population (2010 Census)[27][28]
Percentage[note 1][7]
 Alabama 4,064 0.1
 Alaska 927 0.1
 Arizona 10,692 0.2
 Arkansas 1,493 0.1
 California 88,607 0.2
 Colorado 6,253 0.1
 Connecticut 9,490 0.3
 Delaware 1,443 0.2
 District of Columbia 1,789 0.3
 Florida 1,213,438 6.5
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 25,048 0.3
 Hawaii 1,544 0.1
 Idaho 825 0.1
 Illinois 22,541 0.2
 Indiana 4,042 0.1
 Iowa 1,226 0.0
 Kansas 2,723 0.1
 Kentucky 9,323 0.2
 Louisiana 10,330 0.2
 Maine 783 0.1
 Maryland 10,366 0.2
 Massachusetts 11,306 0.2
 Michigan 9,922 0.1
 Minnesota 3,661 0.1
 Mississippi 2,063 0.1
 Missouri 4,979 0.1
 Montana 421 0.0
 Nebraska 2,152 0.1
 Nevada 21,459 0.8
 New Hampshire 1,349 0.1
 New Jersey 83,362 0.9
 New Mexico 4,298 0.2
 New York 70,803 0.4
 North Carolina 18,079 0.2
  North Dakota 260 0.0
 Ohio 7,523 0.1
 Oklahoma 2,755 0.1
 Oregon 4,923 0.1
 Pennsylvania 17,930 0.1
 Rhode Island 1,640 0.2
 South Carolina 5,955 0.1
 South Dakota 265 0.0
 Tennessee 7,773 0.1
 Texas 46,541 0.2
 Utah 1,963 0.1
 Vermont 510 0.1
 Virginia 15,229 0.2
 Washington 6,744 0.1
 West Virginia 764 0.0
 Wisconsin 3,696 0.1
 Wyoming 275 0.0
USA 1,785,547 0.6

US metropolitan areas with largest Cuban populations[edit]

The largest populations of Cubans are situated in the following metropolitan areas (Source: Census 2010):[7]

  1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 982,758
  3. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA - 81,542
  4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA - 49,702
  5. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA - 36,724
  6. Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA - 20,633
  7. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA - 20,569
  8. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA - 19,130
  9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 17,648


Cubans in the US, 2000 census.

The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Cuban ancestry are (the top 24 of which are in Miami-Dade County):[15]

  1. Westchester, Florida 65.69%
  2. Hialeah, Florida 62.12%
  3. Coral Terrace, Florida 61.87%
  4. West Miami, Florida 61.61%
  5. University Park, Florida 59.80%
  6. Olympia Heights, Florida 57.65%
  7. Tamiami, Florida 56.63%
  8. Hialeah Gardens, Florida 54.31%
  9. Medley, Florida 51.91%
  10. Sweetwater, Florida 49.92%
  11. Palm Springs North, Florida 43.59%
  12. Miami Lakes, Florida 42.28%
  13. Kendale Lakes, Florida 38.58%
  14. Fontainebleau, Florida 37.29%
  15. Miami, Florida 34.14%
  16. Miami Springs, Florida 31.83%
  17. Richmond West, Florida 29.30%
  18. Coral Gables, Florida 28.72%
  19. Virginia Gardens, Florida 26.11%
  20. South Miami Heights, Florida 25.70%
  21. Kendall, Florida 21.31%
  22. Miami Beach, Florida 20.51%
  23. Surfside, Florida 20.15%
  24. Country Club, Florida 19.97%
  25. West New York, New Jersey 19.64%


For total 101 communities, see the reference given. Top 20 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Cuba are (all of which are located within Miami):[29]

  1. Westchester, Florida 55.8%
  2. Hialeah, Florida 53.5%
  3. Coral Terrace, Florida 51.9%
  4. West Miami, Florida 50.5%
  5. South Westside, FL 48.3%
  6. University Park, Florida 48.1%
  7. Hialeah Gardens, Florida 47.5%
  8. Medley, Florida 46.0%
  9. Tamiami, Florida 45.7%
  10. Olympia Heights, Florida 45.2%
  11. Sweetwater, Florida 45.2%
  12. Westwood Lakes, Florida 44.9%
  13. Sunset, Florida 32.7%
  14. Fountainbleau, Florida 32.3%
  15. North Westside, FL 30.4%
  16. Miami, Florida 30.3%
  17. Miami Lakes, Florida 30.1%
  18. Palm Springs North, Florida 29.8%
  19. Kendale Lakes, Florida 28.9%
  20. Kendale Lakes-Lindgren Acres, FL 24.3%


Official Immigration to the U.S[30][31]
Year of
White Black Other Asian Number
1959-64 93.3 1.2 5.3 0.2 144,732
1965-74 87.7 2.0 9.1 0.2 247,726
1975-79 82.6 4.0 13.3 0.1 29,508
1980 80.9 5.3 13.7 0.1 94,095
1981-89 85.7 3.1 10.9 0.3 77,835
1990-93 84.7 3.2 11.9 0.2 60,244
1994–2000 85.8 3.7 10.4 0.7 174,437
Total 87.2 2.9 9.6 0.2 828,577
Race by Cuban national Origin, 2000[4]
Country of Origin White Black Other
Cuba 85.0% 3.6% 7.1%
Total: 1,241,685 1,055,432 44,700 88,159

The ancestry of Cuban Americans comes primarily from Spain.[32] Cuba, compared to other Latin American countries, has had a sizeable White population because the indigenous Tainos were wiped out, and the rigid system of slavery (made even more rigid after the Haitian Revolution).

During the 18th, 19th and early part of the 20th century, large waves of Castilians, Basques, Canarians, Catalans, Andalusians, Asturians and Galicians emigrated to Cuba. Canary Islanders immigrated to many countries along the Caribbean from Louisiana to Venezuela. But Cuba was the Latin American culture most influenced by the emigration of Canary Islanders (they developed the production of sugar in Cuba), and Cuban Spanish is closest to that of the Canary Islands. Canary Islanders were viewed by other Spanish-Cubans as superstitious but also hard-working. Some of Haiti’s white population (French) migrated to Cuba after the Haitian War of Independence in the early 18th century. Also, minor but significant ethnic influx is derived from diverse peoples from Middle East places such as Lebanon and Palestine.


Cuban-American culture[edit]






Food and drink[edit]

See also: Cuban cuisine


A common lunch staple is the Cuban sandwich (sometimes called a mixto sandwich), which is built on Cuban bread and was created and standardized among cigar workers who traveled between Cuba and Florida (especially Ybor City) around the turn of the 20th century[33][34][35]






Political beliefs[edit]

Cuban Americans have tended to be more Republican than other Hispanic groups. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and its association with John F. Kennedy, left many Cubans distrustful of the Democratic Party.[36][page needed] Many Cuban Americans believe that Kennedy deliberately denied Cuban exiles air support, leading to a rout by Castro forces. The trauma of this event has led to speculation about possible Cuban-American involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy. Cuban exiles began an alliance with the Republic Party of Florida. In Florida, Cuban-American congressmen have tended to be Republican, beginning with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. But in New Jersey, another state with many Cuban Americans, Cuban-American congressman have tended to be Democrats, for example Representative Albio Sires. Ronald Reagan is particularly popular in the Cuban exile community (there is a street in Miami named for Reagan).[citation needed]. And George W. Bush received 75 and 78 percent (in 2000 and 2004 respectively) of the Cuban-American vote. The Cuban-American lobby has also lobbied both parties on causes important to Cuban Americans.

In recent years, the Cuban-American vote has become more contested between the parties. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 47% of the Cuban-American vote in Florida.[37] According to Bendixen's exit polls, 84% of Miami-Dade Cuban-American voters 65 or older backed McCain, while 55% of those 29 or younger backed Obama.[38] In 2012, Barack Obama received 49 percent of the Cuban-American vote in Florida, compared to 47 percent for Mitt Romney according to Edison Research exits polls.[39] By the spring of 2014, this increasing trend among Cuban-American voters having a preference for Democratic Party candidates increased particularly for younger voters aged 18–49, increasing to some 56% for the younger voter demographic, versus Cuban-American voters over 50 years of age having just a 39% preference for Democratic candidates.[40]

Cuban Americans in the United States Congress[edit]

Eight Cuban Americans currently serve in the United States Congress, making them the second most over-represented group in U.S Federal Government, second only to Jewish-Americans, this is yet another reason why Cubans are often described as the “Jews of the Caribbean”. They have had incredible success regardless of their small population size and low concentration outside of Florida. There have been seven Cuban-American US representatives elected from Florida, two from New Jersey, and one from Texas and West Virginia. A testament to their sheer determination, in a state like Texas, where Mexican-Americans form nearly the whole Hispanic community, their first Hispanic-American Senator is Republican Ted Cruz, the Canadian-born son of a Cuban exile and an American mother.

Three United States Senators:

Five are United States Representatives:

Former Congressmen:

Cuban Americans in state government[edit]



  • Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Republican, Lieutenant Governor of Florida, (2014–Present)

New Jersey:

  • Angel Fuentes, Democrat, New Jersey
  • Carmelo Garcia, Democrat, New Jersey
  • Marlene Caride. Democrat, New Jersey

New York:







The median household income for Cuban Americans is $36,671, a figure higher than all other Hispanic groups, but lower than that of non-Hispanic whites.

In contrast, U.S.-born Cuban Americans have a higher median income than even non-Hispanic whites, $50,000 as compared to $48,000 for non-Hispanic whites.[4] Cubans living in Florida have a lower median income than those living outside of Florida.[4]

61% of Cubans own their home, compared to 47% of all other Hispanics.[4] The highest rate of home ownership for foreign-born Cubans, 72%, is among those who entered before 1980.

Poverty rates among Cubans is generally lower than the rates for other Hispanic groups.[4]


25% of Cuban Americans have a college education, about twice the average of all other Hispanic groups, and lower than that of non-Hispanic whites, of which 30% are college graduates.[4]

39% of U.S.-born Cuban Americans have a college degree or higher, as compared to only 30% of non-Hispanic whites.[4]

49% of Cuban Americans have a high school education, which is slightly higher than the 47% among all other Hispanic groups, and lower than non-Hispanic whites, which is 59%.[4] 48% of foreign-born Cubans have a high school education, compared to the 54% of native-born Cubans.[4]

See also[edit]





  2. ^ Cubanoamericano López-Cantera es el nuevo vicegobernador de Florida (Spanish)
  3. ^ "Detailed Hispanic Origin: 2007" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved April 13, 2009. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sonya Tafoya (December 6, 2004). "Shades of Belonging" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved May 7, 2008.  Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "" defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cuban Ancestry Maps,, accessed March 31, 2011.
  6. ^ "Cuban-Americans: Politics, culture and shifting demographics". December 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2015. 
  8. ^ a b [1][dead link] Cuba vs Bloqueo (In Spanish). Posted by Dr. Antonio Aja Díaz - CEMI (Centro de Estudios de la Migración Internacional- Center for the Study of International Migration), July 2000.
  10. ^ "Ybor City: Cigar Capital of the World-Reading 3". Retrieved August 8, 2010. 
  15. ^ a b c "Ancestry Map of Cuban Communities". Retrieved December 23, 2007. 
  22. ^ "Cubans using Haitian, Dominican soil to reach Puerto Rico concerns the U.S.", Dominican Today, accessed April 20, 2007.
  24. ^
  25. ^ Cuban Americans in 2007 Archived May 9, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "United Nations Yearbook 1953 - Population by country of citizenship and sex: Cuba" (PDF). United Nations. p. 260. Retrieved June 5, 2015. 
  31. ^ Silvia Pedraza (September 17, 2007). Political Disaffection in Cuba's Revolution and Exodus. Cambridge University Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-521-86787-0. Retrieved June 5, 2015. 
  32. ^ "The World Factbook". Retrieved June 5, 2015. 
  36. ^ Benjamin G. Bishin; Casey A. Klofstad (2011). "The Political Incorporation of Cuban Americans: Why Won't Little Havana Turn Blue?" (PDF). Political Research Quarterly XX(X) 1– 14. University of Utah. doi:10.1177/1065912911414589. Retrieved September 14, 2015.  line feed character in |series= at position 38 (help)

Further reading[edit]


External links[edit]