In this paper, the pH value, organic matter, available N, available P and available K of soil in 12 counties and cities in Dali tobacco growing areas were analyzed and compared to investigate fertility of the tobacco growing soil and the difference in soil fertility between dry and paddy field. The results showed most of the soil in the studied area were of moderate pH and the organic matters in the soil distributed homogenately with higher available N and P, indicating that the application of N and P must be controlled. The highest content of soil available N appeared in Dali city (121.29 mg/kg) and the lowest was in Yangpi county, but the difference was not significant among different places. The difference in content of available K in different places was significant, with that in Eryuan county the highest and that in Dali the lowest. The content of available K in Dali tobacco-growing soil was generally low, the available K content in 75%, 87.5%, 44.44%, 44.44%, 66.67% of Jianchuan county, Midu county, Nanjian county, Xiangyun county and Yunlong county tobacco growing soil respectively were low, indicating appropriate K application must be applied. 66.67% tobacco growing soil in Eryuan county and Weishan county respectively showed high content of available K, indicating the application of K need to be controlled. In Dali tobacco area, 35.6% dry field and 51.4% paddy field were lower in available K. The paddy field exhibited strong capacity to supply N and P while the dry field had strong capacity to supply K. The fertility variance of paddy field was smaller than that of the dry field, indicating N and P must be appropriately applied and application of K must be increased in the paddy field.