Abstract: A large number of observation data of land subsidence and undergound water level and some results of laboratory soil test are used to analyze the deformation characteristics of soil layers in Shanghai. It’s the first time to comprehensively analyze the deformation characteristics of all soil layers and the spatial and time distribution of land subsidence caused by excessive pumping of groundwater. It is found that the deformation characteristics of soil layers are rather different from each other, and the deformation characteristic of some soil layer is different at different time and in different place. Land subsidence is influenced by many factors, so that its spatial distribution is complex. The subsidence mainly occurred in shallow soil layers before nineties of the last century, but mainly occurred in deep and shallow soil layers since nineties of the last century. The subsidence model of every soil layer can be properly developed according to these results.