This study offers a demographic profile of the U.S. Cuban population, using data from the decennial census and current population surveys. Part one estimates the number of Cuban Americans and describes their geographic distribution nationwide. Part two compares the socioeconomic characteristics (age, gender, educational attainment, income, employment, nativity, year of immigration, and citizenship status) of Cuban Americans to that of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland and compares Cubans to all Central Americans and South Americans aggregated together. Part three compares Cubans living in metropolitan Miami, Florida, to Cubans nationwide. Part four compares first generation immigrant Cuban Americans to second generation Cubans born in the United States with one or both parents born in Cuba. There were over 1.2 million Cuban Americans in the 2000 Census, making them the third largest component of the Hispanic population. About 84 percent of all Cuban Americans lived in Florida, New Jersey, California, and New York, with 650,000 Cubans in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The 2000 Census badly underestimated the populations of many other Hispanic groups nationwide and in Miami-Dade County. Cuban Americans' socioeconomic status improved during the 1990s. While Cuban Americans had higher socioeconomic and education levels than other Hispanic groups, they had lower SES than the total U.S. population. One-third of Cuban Americans were born in the United States. Second generation Cubans had higher average SES than the immigrant generation. (SM)