Rural, Central-City, and Suburban Differences in Housing Quality among the Elderly: Assessing the Impact of Sociodemographic Characteristics by

Housing quality is particularly important for the elderly. Age increases the risk of impairments that can inhibit walking, climbing stairs, and cooking (Pollack and Newcomer 1986; Soldo 1986). Since many of these activities are affected by housing quality, the reduction of functional capacity is thought to place a higher importance on the quality of a housing unit (Carp, 1986; Wethington 1996; Cagney, Browning and Wen 2005). Not surprisingly, characteristics related to poor housing quality (i.e, renting, being single, female, or a racial minority) are also associated with poverty, and poverty rates are higher in rural areas compared to suburban and central city areas (Lichter and McLaughlin 1995; Levernier, Partridge, and Rickman 2000). In particular, poverty rates are higher among the nonmetro elderly, especially among the oldest old, than the metro elderly. Yet, despite the higher level of poverty and poorer housing quality among the elderly in rural areas, the rural elderly are more likely to be white, married, and homeowners. Prior studies that measure housing quality as the absence of working appliances and the presence of structural deficiencies show that the elderly in rural and central city areas live in poorer quality housing compared to their urban and suburban counterparts, respectively (Struyk and Soldo 1980; Krout 1986; Golant and La Greca 1994). Yet, studies comparing housing quality in rural areas to other areas are often outdated and descriptive rather than empirical. Furthermore, the existing literature fails to identify whether all rural and central city elderly are at risk of living in poorer quality housing or whether this risk is limited to certain subgroups (e.g., racial and ethnic minorities) among the elderly in rural and central city areas. Using respondents aged 55 and older from the 2005 American Housing Survey (AHS), the goal of this study is to document and explain locational differences in housing quality among the elderly, using a residential location definition that includes central city, suburban, and rural areas. We improve on the existing literature by (1) using recent data on housing quality from the 2005 AHS; (2) explaining residential location differences in housing quality using sociodemographic characteristics; and (3) identifying possible interaction effects between residential location and sociodemographic characteristics on housing quality among the elderly.