Under the background of ecological protection and high-quality development strategy in the Yellow River Basin, strengthening the research on the habitat quality and driving mechanism of the Yellow River floodplain is of great significance for regional biodiversity conservation and ecological resilience improvement. The towns along the Yellow River floodplain, as the research area, are divided into 4 river sections and 14 sub-study areas according to the characteristics of the river regime. Based on the InVEST model and three types of landscape pattern indices, the temporal and spatial evolution of habitat quality and landscape pattern under the boundary of different river regime characteristics is analyzed and demonstrated. The results show that:(1) In terms of habitat quality, from 2000 to 2020, the overall habitat quality of the study area showed a downward trend. The average value of habitat quality of each river section was river section of delta, meandering river section, turbulent river section, and transitional river section in descending order. (2) In terms of landscape pattern, the fragmentation index among 4 river sections had the smallest fluctuation, and the degree of fragmentation gradually decreased with the development of urbanization. The connectivity index and complexity index fluctuated significantly among 4 river sections, and the changes were different due to river regime characteristics. (3) In terms of the correlation between quality and landscape pattern, most of the land landscape pattern indices were significantly correlated with habitat quality, but the correlations were gradually weakened with the acceleration of urbanization. The same landscape pattern index showed different or even reverse interaction relationship in different river sections. The study shows that the river regime is an overall supporting or limiting factor for the habitat quality of the Yellow River floodplain, and its effect is mainly reflected in the differential effect on the land spatial development of the towns along the Yellow River floodplain. This influence directly affected the evolution of urban built-up or green space adjacent to the Yellow River floodplain, and indirectly affected other district of the study area. To a certain extent, it has a profound influence on the main direction of urban development, the master regulation of the evolution of land cover and spatial pattern, and finally affects the distribution pattern of habitat quality in the towns along the Yellow River floodplain. The study results have certain theoretical and practical values for the habitat protection and ecosystem function regulation of important ecological function areas in the Yellow River floodplain.