Abstract: The Yellow River Basin is an important ecological security barrier in China. Exploring the spatial correlation network characteristics and influencing factors of its environmental governance performance will help promote ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. Based on the panel data of 60 prefecture level and above cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2021, a slack-based measurement (SBM) model is constructed to measure the performance of environment governance in the Yellow River Basin. Furthermore, the modified gravity model and social network analysis method are used to explore the spatial correlation network characteristics and influencing factors of environment governance performance. The results show that: (1) During the research period, the environmental governance performance of the Yellow River Basin shows a fluctuating upward trend, and the average environmental governance performance in the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the basin is less than 1. The overall environmental governance performance is low, indicating that the Yellow River Basin has not yet achieved efficient environmental governance. (2) The network density of environment governance performance among cities in the Yellow River Basin is relatively low, the network structure is relatively stable, and the correlation efficiency is high. There is no hierarchical network structure, and cities such as Jinan and Qingdao are in the central position of the network, while cities such as Bayannur and Baiyin are on the periphery of the network. (3) The middle and lower reaches cities such as Zhengzhou and Zibo have produced spillover effects on both inside and outside the sector. The upper and middle reaches cities such as Linfen and Xining are the ‘engines’ of the related network, while regional central cities such as Qingdao and Jinan have become beneficiaries of the network. Cities located in the Yellow River´s ‘Ji’ shaped metropolitan area, such as Xi´an and Lanzhou, serve as bridges. (4) Geographical proximity, economic development difference, and industrial structure difference have a positive impact on the spatial correlation network of environmental governance performance in the Yellow River Basin. The impact effects of environmental regulation difference, technological innovation difference, opening up difference, and government regulation difference show phased changes. The research shows that there are significant spatial correlations and spillover effects in the environmental governance performance of the Yellow River Basin, but the degree of spatial correlation is relatively low. It is necessary to continuously enhance the closeness of the spatial correlation network in order to promote coordinated environmental governance and balanced development among regions in the Yellow River Basin.