Abstract Socioeconomic status is an important factor affecting all-cause mortality. Income, education and occupation alone or in combination have been employed as a measure of socioeconomic status; however, the study results vary in measures. Material mechanism, lifestyle mechanism, psychological mechanism and community neighborhood mechanism have been accepted as the main intermediate mechanisms for the impact of socioeconomic status on all-cause mortality; however, the contribution of these mechanisms remains controversial. Based on the international and national publications pertaining to the association between socioeconomic status and all-cause mortality from 2012 to 2021, this review summarizes the relationship between socioeconomic status and all-cause mortality in different metrics and the intermediate mechanism of the impact of socioeconomic status on all-cause mortality, so as to provide insights for further studies.