CITY-SUBURBAN, METRO-NONMETRO, AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE HOUSING QUALITY OF UNITED-STATES ELDERLY HOUSEHOLDS

This article uses data from the 1987 American Housing Survey (AHS) to assess in what U.S. locations elderly (age 60 and over) households are more at risk of occupying physically deficient housing. Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan locations are distinguished by their settlement ty pe (city, suburban, and rural) and regional contexts. The AHS data con sisted of a sample of 12,859 age 60 and older householders representin g a statistical population of 26,318,348 American households. Within m etropolitan areas, central cities had the highest rate of physical def iciencies whereas the urban suburbs suffered from the lowest prevalenc e rates. Elderly households living in nonmetropolitan rural areas, and in the rural parts of metropolitan areas, had the highest housing def iciency rates in the country. These national comparisons were misleadi ng, however, to the extent that they primarily reflected the poor hous ing conditions found in only one or two regions of the country, partic ularly the South.