A disproportionate share of the U.S. elderly population lives in nonmetro areas and has substantially more poverty than the metro elderly population. The nonmetro elderly's poverty rate was 21 percent in 1980 versus 13 percent for metro elderly, while median incomes were $4,111 versus $5,003. Lower personal incomes of the nonmetro elderly, regression analysis suggests, are explained more by their characteristics (such as low educational attainment, low occupational status, and not working) than by place of residence. Living without relatives or alone was the major factor contributing to poverty. Long-term care, welfare, and local planning to meet the elderly's needs take on added importance in rural areas where the Nation's trend toward a rapidly growing elderly population is exacerbated by lower incomes of nonmetro people.