【Objective】The Datong Basin is a Cenozoic rifted basin with superior geothermal geological conditions. However, due to the lack of geophysical and drilling datas in the basin, the research on the basin structure, sedimentary strata distribution, geothermal geological characteristics and resource evaluation is relatively weak. To a certain extent, it restricts the potential understanding and development and utilization of geothermal resources in the Datong Basin.【Methods】This paper comprehensively applies the new two-dimensional seismic and drilling logging data, such as oil and gas exploration and geothermal exploration, to carry out research on the geological structure, faults, sedimentary strata, and geothermal geological characteristics of the northern Datong Basin, evaluate the potential of geothermal resources, and estimate the geothermal energy. The amount of resources indicates the favorable area of geothermal resources.【Results】The Datong Basin is divided into five secondary tectonic units: Huairen sag, Sangganhe sag, Yingxian sag, Huanghualiang low uplift, and Sangganhexi uplift; Geothermal geological conditions and geothermal resource potential, two sets of thermal reservoirs, Neogene sandstone and Archean bedrock, are mainly developed, and a thick Quaternary thermal caprock is developed. The high-value area has the potential of Neogene sandstone and Archean bedrock layered geothermal resources, with a total static resource of about 68.8x1015 kJ, equivalent to about 2.347 billion tons of standard coal.【Conclusions】The comprehensive evaluation shows that the western part of the Huairen sag and the northern part of the Sangganhe sag in the Datong Basin are the first-class areas of hydrothermal geothermal resources, which are favorable target areas for geothermal exploration and development. The water inflow rate of a single well can reach 60m3/h. The northeastern part of the Huairen sag and the southwestern part of the Sangganhe sag are the second-class areas of geothermal resources. The geothermal resources of the Huanghualiang low uplift and the Sangganhe west uplift are relatively poor.