The salient disparity in livelihoods between urban and rural residents has been primarily attributed to the process of urbanization, which necessitates comprehensive consideration when studying regional livelihoods. This study formulates a model for measuring livelihoods based on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) framework developed by the Department for International Development (UK), while also establishing a differentiated urban-rural livelihood indicators system. The urban-rural difference factors are introduced to assess residents' livelihood levels at a county scale within the Hengduan Mountains Region. The findings reveal that: (1) incorporating urban-rural difference factors into SLA can partially mitigate the amplifying effect of urban residents' advantages on overall regional livelihood measurements; (2) The dichotomy structure differences between urban-rural in the Hengduan Mountains Region were significant from 2000-2015. During this period, the differences between the key drivers of urban and rural residents' livelihoods were obvious, with the development of livelihoods of rural residents gradually shifted from natural capital-driven to physical capital-driven. Additionally, the size of the town replaces the state of industrial development as a crucial factor influencing the development of urban residents' livelihoods. From the perspective of urban and rural integration, the scale of investment and the ability to access information have begun to increasingly show their positive effects on the development of residents' livelihoods; (3) the level of livelihoods of residents of counties in the Hengduan Mountains Region is generally on the low side, while there was little driving force and capacity for residents' livelihood development, the polarization trend of urban and rural residents' livelihoods becoming more and more obvious; (4) The spatial distribution pattern of residents' livelihood level in the Hengduan Mountains Region is higher in the south and lower in the north overall, meanwhile there is a prominent negative correlation between residents' livelihood level and regional elevation and slope, in other words, the more fragile counties are in the region, the more vulnerable their residents' livelihood development is be restricted by regional natural environment, moreover, there is a notable positive correlation between residents' livelihood level and regional labor force size and economic scale; counties with abundant labor resources and higher levels of economic development exhibit greater resilience against disturbances caused by regional natural environment. In conclusion, introducing urban-rural difference factors into SLA is positive to the research on measuring regional residents' livelihood levels, which can enhance their applicability when measuring residents' livelihood levels at the regional scale, while mitigating potential impacts on residents' livelihoods from the dichotomy structure of urban and rural.