Few studies have investigated the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and chronic kidney disease in the elderly. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the sex-specific association between MS and decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in a Chinese elderly population. We performed cross-sectional analyses of older (age a parts per thousand yen60 years) males (n = 19,015) and females (n = 23,310) classified as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 component(s) or MS group based on the presenting MS component(s). Sex-specific relationship of decreased GFR with MS component(s) was analyzed by logistic regression models. Compared with participants with 0 component of MS, males with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 component(s) had 1.40-, 1.79-, 2.41-, 3.29-, and 4.09-fold risks for decreased GFR; females with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 component(s) had 1.65-, 1.71-, 1.88-, 2.32-, and 1.96-fold risks for decreased GFR, respectively. The multivariate-adjusted odds ratios for decreased GFR in males and females with MS compared with those without MS were 1.79 and 1.25, respectively. For participants without hypertension and diabetes, the association of MS with decreased GFR was still significant. In this study of 42,325 Chinese participants aged a parts per thousand yen60 years, MS was significantly associated with decreased GFR, and the association was more profound for males than females.