Since the comprehensive establishment of rural subsistence allowances in 2007，the minimum living guarantee level has been increased year by year. However，as one of the most basic income redistribution system，rural subsistence level needs to adapt to the economic development. In order to analyze the adaptability of rural subsistence level with the economic development objectively，this paper constructs two comprehensive evaluation index system for the rural subsistence level and the level of economic development，and makes empirical analysis and determination on the adaptability of them using factor analysis method of the 31 provinces from 2008～2012 successively. The study found that：the minimum living guarantee level is not compatible with the level of economic development；the relationship between them can be divided into four categories. China’s rural minimum living guarantee level is still low，especially in the developed provinces，rural financial investment is less and the level is not high. The sustainable investment and reasonable allocation of the central government funds to the rural subsistence allowances is very important to ensure the whole level of rural subsistence allowances in a reasonable range.