Abstract: From the perspectives of human capital and social capital, 316 retired athletes in China are taken as the research object to explore the impact of these two kinds of capital on retired athletes' income, trying to find out the main factors affecting retired athletes' income. The conclusions are drawn as follows:the income of retired athletes in China varies greatly, and the average income is not optimistic; among the observed variables of human capital, sports grade has the greatest impact on the income of retired athletes, followed by education level, physical health and vocational skills training; among the observed variables of social capital, the two indicators of network heterogeneity and weak relationship have a significant impact on the income of retired athletes; human capital helps retired athletes to enter the middle-income group, but social capital helps them to enter the high-income group; human capital and social capital play significant roles in promoting the income of retired athletes, and the role of human capital is higher than that of social capital.Based on these conclusions, relevant suggestions from the government and individual athletes are put forward.