China′s densely populated village landscapes play a significant role in global environmental processes because of their vast area and population. Here we investigate the influence of land use on soil carbon stocks (top 0-30 cm) within and across these densely populated landscapes based on measurements at five research sites in environmentally distinct regions across China: the North China Plain (Gaoyi County, Hebei Province), Yangtze Plain (Yixing County, Jiangsu Province), Sichuan Hilly Region (Jintang County, Sichuan Province), Subtropical Hilly Region (Yiyang County, Hunan Province), and Tropical Hilly Region (Dianbai County, Guangdong Province). Village landscapes were first stratified into ecologically-distinct components (ecotopes) by high spatial resolution mapping (1 m) in a set of 12 regionally-representative 500 500 m landscape quadrats (sample cells) in each site (total = 60) using IKONOS satellite imagery and fieldwork. Samples of ecotope features were then selected for soil sampling and analysis of soil organic carbon (SOC) by a stratified sampling design based on the areas of each landscape class. Results demonstrate that SOC density in Gaoyi, Yixing, Jintang, Yiyang, and Dianbai, was 2.62, 3.47, 2.24, 2.86 kg/m2, and 2.70 kg/m2, respectively. Soils under paddy and forestry land use had the highest SOC density in all sites except Gaoyi, where irrigated use had the highest SOC. The lowest SOC′s were associated with constructed, fallow and other land use classes with thin vegetation cover. The land use class with the highest stock of SOC was irrigated in Gaoyi, paddy in Yixing, rainfed agriculture in Jintang, paddy and forestry in Yiyang, and forestry in Dianbai. In terms of land cover, the annual and perennial cover classes had the highest SOC density across sites (2.94, 3.13 kg/m2, respectively) and also had the highest SOC stocks in every site. SOC stocks increased with latitude under annual cover, but the contrary trend was observed for perennial cover. Ecotope-level analysis showed that SOC distribution was more complex within and across sites, and SOC density distribution was affected by many factors, including climate, land use, land cover, and specific human activities.