Based on the data of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2011 and the description of the group features of left behind elderly in rural areas as well as the pension conditions,this paper uses the Logistic model to study the impact of individual characteristics,family characteristics and social welfare on pension model of left behind elderly in rural areas.The result shows that the leftbehind elderly in rural areas generally have lower education; from the aspect of individual characteristics,those who are older,unhealthy,male,highly educated,or homeowners (with their spouses) tend to choose formal model of oldage endowment; from the aspect of family characteristics,the elderly who have more household income,higher prestige at home,or fewer children prefer the formal model of oldage endowment,and those whose families have experienced the migration show more interest in informal model of oldage endowment compared with those who have not experienced the migration; from the aspect of social welfare,the elderly who live in the community with more activities and the elderly who don’t participate in health insurance are more likely to choose the formal model of oldage endowment.