The objective of this work is to determine the prevalence of mobility limitations in institutionalized older adults and their associated factors. This is a cross-sectional study carried out on January 2015 in 10 nursing homes for older adults in Brazil. Individuals aged ≥ 60 years were included in the study, excluding those hospitalized, those who were absent in the data collection period and those who did not live full-time in the institution. Sociodemographic information related to the institutions and the health conditions of the elderly was collected. Mobility limitations were checked based on information given by the main caregiver using the Barthel Scale. The Chi-square test and a multiple logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis at a significance level of 5%. The sample consisted of 305 older adults, mostly women, with a mean age of 81.5 years (SD 8.47). The prevalence of mobility limitations was 65.6% (95% CI: 59.6-70.4), and 26.9% of the older adults were wheelchair users. The final model revealed a statistically significant association of these limitations with malnutrition or risk for malnutrition (p < 0.001, 1.86: 1.54-2.26) and age ≥ 81 years (p = 0.002, 1.35: 1.12 – 1.63). We conclude that mobility limitations have a high prevalence among institutionalized older adults associated with longevity and nutritional status.