Nonmetro elders better off than metro elders on some measures, not on others.

The author examines characteristics of the nonmetropolitan elderly in the United States. "A larger share of the nonmetro population was age 60 and older (18 percent) in 1996 than the metro population (15 percent). At ages 75 and older, half of all elderly persons are living alone. This is associated with a greater likelihood of being poor: 42 percent of nonmetro persons age 75 and older were poor or near-poor, compared with 28 percent of their metro counterparts."