Objective: to compare the frailty syndrome among elderly people living at home in two Brazilian cities and to identify factors related to sociodemographic and health-related variables. Method: population-based cross-sectional study with 480 elderly individuals from the cities of Ribeirão Preto/SP and João Pessoa/PB, with application of the Mini Mental State Examination instruments and the Edmonton Frailty, Geriatric Depression and Lawton and Brody scales. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, Fisher’s test, Student’s t-test, Spermann’s correlation and Logistic regression were used. In all analyzes, the level of significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: in relation to frailty, it was verified that living in Ribeirão Preto, presenting advanced age, low schooling, multiple chronic diseases, reduced cognitive status and functional capacity, besides depressive symptoms, are factors associated with the frailty syndrome, in both cities. Conclusion: we identified that the frailty syndrome in the elderly of both cities has a relation with the place where the elderly person lives, age, schooling, number of diseases, reduction of cognitive status, functional capacity and presence of symptoms depressive.