The aim of this study was to assess the burden and quality of life of carers of dependent elderly people in an area covered by the Family Health Strategy of a major city in the macro-region of Minas Gerais. This was a cross-sectional observational study carried out by applying an instrument to a statistically significant simple random sample. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 21.0 with a 5% level of evidence, with continuous variables analysed using the Student's t-test and dichotomous variables using the chi-squared test. It was found that only 5.7% of the elderly have carers, of the elderly in that region have carers, and 100% of carers are female with an average age of 54.41 years, ranging from 34 to 81 years. Of the carers (35.3%), 23.53% were formal carers aged over 60. The average burden measured by the Zarit questionnaire was 33 (SD=15.81), ranging from 4 to 62(0-88). The SF-36 scale showed an average of 58.04 (SD=22.92), ranging from 21.2 to 95.1. The SF-36 values are measured in eight domains: functional capacity, physical limitations, pain, general state of health, vitality and social aspects.