**Abstract**

The elderly from Quilombola communities are groups socially vulnerable with specific needs. Quilombola communities are territories made up of descendants of escaped slaves, located in remote rural areas. This study aims to describe the socioeconomic, sanitary, and demographic characteristics of the living conditions of the elderly. A household survey was conducted with 208 older persons from 11 Quilombola communities in the Maranhão, Northeast, Brazil. Among the 208 elderly people interviewed, 54.3% were women, 48.6% were between 60 and 69 years old, 59.1% declared themselves black, 35.6% were married, and 54.3% did not know how to read and write. About 81% of the elderly are in the worst income stratum. Among 59.6% of households, the water supply comes from a well/spring on the property itself, and garbage was burned/buried in 89.4% of the houses. In overall, housing construction, 64.4% of the elderly had appropriate materials used on the walls, 89.9% in the construction of the roof, and only 30.7% in the construction of the floor. The majority of the elderly did not have adequate construction of ceiling, floor, and walls according to sex and age. It was observed that the elderly live in a situation of vulnerability and precarious living conditions.

**Keywords:** older persons, life conditions, groups of African descent, health surveys
