The aim of this study was to compare the factors of health-related quality of life in older adults according to the type of residency. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted. The subjects were 114 institutionalized older adults and 99 community dwelling older adults. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews by nurses using structured questionnaires composed of SF-36 (ver.2) and CGA-SF. Results: The institutionalized older adults had more health problems and experienced lower quality of life compared to community dwelling older adults. Factors influencing health-related quality of life for institutionalized older adults were social support, educational level, and ADL, which explained about 25.7% of the total variance, while thoseof community dwelling older adults were IADL, experiencing fall, and weight loss, which had explanatory power of 31.8%. Conclusion: These results indicate that differentiated nursing strategies according to the type of residency are required to promote health-related quality of life for older adults.