In order to investigate the variation characteristics of soil nutrients of cultivated land in different elevation fields, a typical south hilly area—Ganzhou City of Jiangxi Province was selected as research case. Based on the data of totally 2928 soil nutrient samples collected in the topsoil layer (0~20cm) of the farmlands at different altitudes in 2012—2013, classical statistical analysis, variance analysis and coKriging method were employed to analyze the spatial coupling relation between soil nutrients of cultivated land and different elevations. The result showed that the correlation relationship between soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), total potassium (TK) and elevation were overwhelmingly positive. Meanwhile, there was a remarkable negative correlation between total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP) and elevation. However, altitude was irrelevant to available potassium (AK). According to the variance analysis of soil nutrients, the content of SOM and TN was increased with the rise of elevation when the elevation was below 250m. But the changes of soil nutrient content became inapparent above 250m. The spatial distribution map showed clearly that high value area was mainly distributed in area of high elevation around the research area. On the other side, the content of TP and AP was decreased with the rise of elevation when the elevation was below 200m. High value area was mainly distributed in area of middle and low elevation around the research area according to the spatial distribution map. Likewise, the changes of soil nutrient content were not significant above 200m. TK content was increased with elevation, however, the content of AK was fluctuated greatly. Yet their pattern was inapparent. The spatial variation of soil nutrients was due to the interaction of parent materials, soil types, land use patterns and soil erosion at different elevations. The research results could help to find out the vertical changing law of soil nutrients at different elevations, which was of great significance for ensuring grain security of China. 