Based on the land use data of northern Shaanxi in 1990, 2000, and 2015, the spatial distribution and evolution of ecosystem service value (ESV) before and after the implementation of the Grain for Green Project (GGP) were analyzed and the impacts of the GGP on the ESV were discussed, using the ecological service value equivalent factor method, grid method, and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA). The results indicate that: (1) The implementation of the GGP in northern Shaanxi has significant achievements. After the implementation of the project, a total of 297066.15 hm² of arable land was converted into forestland and grassland, and the coverage rate of forest and grass increased from 57.33% to 60.50%. (2) The GGP has significantly improved the ESV in northern Shaanxi. The ESV in northern Shaanxi increased by 3.282 billion yuan in the 25 years. The ESV increased by 591 million yuan after the implementation of the project, which was mainly contributed to the area increase of forestland and grassland by the GGP. (3) Spatial distribution of the ESV has a significant "High South and Low North" pattern and shows positive agglomeration and dependence. There were obvious clustering effects of the hotspot and cold-spot areas of the ESV. Hotspot clustering coincided with the spatial distribution of forestland and grassland whereas the cold-spot clustering coincided with the spatial distribution of unused land, arable land and construction land. (4) With the influence of the GGP, the distribution of the middle and second-high ESV areas gradually increased and the spatial agglomeration of sub-hotspot areas gradually strengthened in the central of northern Shaanxi, while in the north, the distribution of the second-lowest and low-level ESV areas gradually decreased and the spatial agglomeration of cold spots gradually weakened. From a whole perspective, the land transfer and the ESV changes in northern Shaanxi are consistent with the implementation of the GGP in time and in space. The implementation of the GGP has effectively improved the ecological environment in northern Shaanxi with significantly increased ESV.