Objective: To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its association with sociodemographic, behavioral, reproductive and clinical factors in climacteric women. Methods: Cross-sectional and analytical study with probabilistic cluster sampling. The study included 874 women, aged between 40 and 65 years, registered in 73 Family Health Strategy units in the city of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were obtained through questionnaires, anthropometric evaluation and blood collection. For statistical analysis, the hierarchical Poisson regression model was adopted.