Spatiotemporal variations of soil moisture are affected by a combination of factors many factors including climate, vegetation, human activities, of which the primary factors vary greatly in different geographical zonal dimension in the Yellow River Basin. To identify and map the dominant factors driving the spatiotemporal variation of surface soil moisture in the Yellow River Basin across different zonality from 2003 to 2018, relationships between spatiotemporal variations of soil moisture and driving factors (precipitation, evaporation, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and land use) were analyzed from two geographical dimensions: longitude and altitude. The results revealed that: (1) The spatial distribution of surface soil moisture in the Yellow River Basin exhibited a pattern of higher values in the east and west, and lower values in the middle. Temporally, surface soil moisture in the Yellow River Basin showed a noteworthy upward trend from 2003 to 2018, with an average change rate of 0.00066 m3/m3 year-1 over the past 16 years. As altitude ascended, the rate of surface soil moisture initially exhibited an increase from 0.00061 m3/m3 year(-)1 to 0.00078 m3/m3 year(-)1, followed by a decline to 0.00035 m3/m3 year(-)1. However, above altitudes of 4500 m, the rate once again rose, reaching 0.00084 m3/m3 year(-)1. (2) Among the three driving factors, climate, NDVI and land use accounted for 45%, 18% and 8% of the regional surface soil moisture variations, respectively. Climate controlling factors are mainly concentrated in the southwest, south, east and northeast, NDVI controlling factors are mainly concentrated in the central Loess Plateau and the northern Hetao plain, and land use controlling factors are mainly distributed in and around some big cities. Additionally, 29% of the area was controlled by the combined effects of these three factors, with no dominant controlling factor evident with scattered distribution. (3) From the perspective of multi-dimensional zonality, the degree of climate influence is high in the east and west, low in the middle, and increases with the increase of altitude. The influence degree of vegetation increased first and then decreased from west to east. The influence degree was greater in the central area, and the influence increased first and then decreased slightly with the altitude. The peak value appeared in the middle altitude area at 1000 m. And the degree of influence of human activity intensity is slightly lower in the central part.