Poverty among older Americans: the plight of nonmetropolitan elders.

Elderly persons in nonmetropolitan areas are more likely to be poor than their metropolitan counterparts, and the gap between them increases with age. This study provides a comprehensive empirical comparison of the nature of income poverty among metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) elders. Drawing on the 1990 Current Population Survey, we document differences in poverty by age and for various demographic subgroups of the elderly population. These analyses show that poverty rates are higher among nonmetro elders for virtually all demographic subgroups. We estimate logistic regression models to predict the likelihood that elders are poor to separate the effects of population composition from those of nonmetro residence. We find that even after controlling for age, sex, race, marital status, and living arrangements, nonmetro elders are more likely to be poor than those in metro areas.