In order to study the urban economic development of Henan Province, with 18 prefecture-level cities in Henan Province as research samples, combined with the data of Henan Statistical Yearbook in 2020, an evaluation has been made of the urban economic competitiveness of Henan Province by selecting economic evaluation indicators and using factor analysis method to extract economic vitality and economic potential as the main factors. The results show that there is a striking economic discrepancy between cities in Henan Province, with the fracture of Zhengzhou ranking first. For the majority of cities, the comprehensive economic factors and economic vitality factors are lower than the average value, especially the second factor, with an average value of only 0.153. In view of an exploration of the causes of urban economic imbalance, the 18 prefecture-level cities in Henan Province are divided into 6 categories by adopting the cluster analysis method. It is found that the economic potential factor of the first four categories, as well as the economic vitality factor of the fifth category, is low in their scores, while the score of the sixth category is relatively balanced, but not with a high comprehensive ranking. For a solution to the existing problems in different cities, it is suggested to improve them from four aspects: vigorously promoting the strategy of strengthening provincial capitals, classified management, precise implementation of policies, strengthening macro-control, stimulating financial transactions, adjusting industrial structure, and changing the development mode, so as to boost a rapid improvement in the economic competitiveness of Henan Province.