[Objective] The genetic diversity of lactic acid bacteria which were isolated from raw milk of Yili area in Xinjiang was analyzed. [Methods] The diversity of lactic acid bacteria was analyzed by using pure culture, repetitive genomic fingerprinting (rep-PCR) analysis patterns and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. [Results] A total of 29 strains of lactic acid bacteria were obtained from five raw milk samples. The phylogenetic analysis showed that these strains belonged to five phylogenetic groups, they were Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus and Enterococcus respectively. The dominant genus was Leuconostoc (27.6%), followed by Lactococcus (24.0%). [Conclusion] The abundant diversity of lactic acid bacteria in the raw milk of Yili area in Xinjiang provided rich resources for exploiting probiotic lactic acid bacteria products.