Objective To investigate the correlation between serum uric acid and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) in community-dwelling elderly. Methods A total of 840 retired old persons living in the cadre’s sanatorium from Hunan region who took physical examination in our hospital from March 2012 to June 2016 were recruited in this study. According to the results of cf-PWV, they were divided into <9 m/s group (n=520) and ≥9 m/s group (n=320). The clinical data and laboratory examination results were collected and compared between the 2 groups. SPSS17.0 software was used to perfom statistical analysis. Results Significant differences were seen in fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), homestasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and serum uric acid between the 2 groups (P<0.05). After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), HOMA-IR and other interference factors, cf-PWV were positively correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP, r=0.351, P=0.017), hs-CRP (r=0.250, P=0.033) and serum uric acid (r=0.647, P=0.000). Conclusion Serum uric acid is an independent risk factor for cf-PWV, and can indirectly reflect the progression of arterial stiffness.