Objective To investigate the influencing factors on the demand among the elderly for home-based care services in Cangzhou municipanity. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted using stratified multistage random sampling among 1000 people aged over 60 years in Cangzhou municipality, and an analysis was made of the influencing factors on the demand for home-based care services among the elderly there. SPSS statistics 18.0 was used for data processing. χ² test was performed for comparison between groups, and a multiple logistic regression for screening independent risk factors. Results A total of 898 valid questionnaires were collected back with a recovery rate of 89.8%. A univariate analysis showed that age, education, occupation, marital status, family financial status and health status had significant influence on the demand among the elderly for home-based care services (P<0.05). A logistic regression analysis showed that college education or above (OR=0.267,5%CI=0.154-0.846), business services and technical staff (OR=0.352,5%CI=0.167-0.984), widowhood (OR=0.391,5%CI=0.224-0.855), annual family income per capita over RMB 5000 yuan (OR=0.384, 95%CI=0.208-0.931), poor health (OR=0.296,5%CI=0.052-0.366) are the influencing factors on the demand for home-based care services. Conclusion The factors that have a significant impact on the needs of the home-based care services among the elderly are education, occupation, marital status, family financial status and health status. The results form a basis on which the community workers can develop and implement home-based care services.