By use of bioinformatics methods, the identification, gene structure and cis acting elements of DREB family genes in maize were analyzed in order to understand their potential functions in stress resistance pathway. The results show that there were 87 DREB family members in maize, which could be divided into 6 subgroups. The length of the amino acid sequence was 125-452 amino acids, which encoded hydrophilic protein. They were distributed on 10 chromosomes of maize and concentrated at the long arm of the chromosome 4 and 5. Only a few genes contain introns, and most members exist only in the form of CDS and were conserved among subgroups. In addition to MBS and other elements in response to drought stress, the promoter region also contains elements in response to Gibberellin, ABA, MeJA and other related regulatory pathways. Species collinearity analysis showed that there was collinearity relationship among DREB family genes in sorghum and maize, and some genes showed ploidy relationship. Expression pattern analysis based on transcriptome data showed that under drought, salt and drought and salt stress, the expression levels of only a few genes were significantly increased, and the down regulated expression of most DREB family genes was involved in stress response.