Based on the theory of spatial economics, two types of spatial panel models were constructed to theoretically analyze and empirically test the impact of market potential on the overall inter-regional and intra-regional urban-rural structural income gap. The results show that: the market potential has a significant promoting effect on the improvement of the overall income level between regions, and the regions with high market potential will get stronger economic development impetus, so that the income level of residents in this region will be higher. The income level is characterized by spatial agglomeration, and there is significant heterogeneity in the influence of market potential on the income growth among different regions. Moreover, this gap largely explains the income gap between different regions in China, especially between the east and the west. The u-shaped influence between market potential and urban-rural structural income gap is first narrowed and then expanded. The inflection point is 7.02. For provinces and regions that have not yet exceeded this inflection point, improving market potential is still an important means to improve the urban-rural structural income gap within the region.