Objective Prevalence of Salmonella in retail raw chicken cuts were collected from Yangling and its surrounding districts, characterizations including antibiotic susceptibility, serotype and genotype based on pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of Salmonella isolates in these samples were investigated to support basic data for foodborne Salmonella outbreaks prediction. Methods Salmonella was isolated and identified according to procedures of the National Food Safety Standard of Food Microbiological Examination:Salmonella (GB 4789.4-2010), the serotype was determined via serum agglutination method, the genotype was determined via protocol of PFGE, and DNA profiles were clustered by BioNumerics software. Results Thirty-four (18.1%) of 188 retail raw chicken cut samples were positive for Salmonella, the detection rate of Salmonella in farmer's market (24.6%,29/118) was higher than that in supermarket (7.1%,5/70); the detection rates of Salmonella in chicken leg, chicken feet, chicken neck, chicken liver were higher than those in chicken intestine and gizzard. Ten serotypes were identified from 34 Salmonella isolates, and the most commonly detected serotype was S.Corvallis, which was significantly (P<0.05) more prevalent than other serotypes including S.Typhimurium, S.Derby, and so on. All isolates resisted to sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, ceftiofur and ciprofloxacin; the rates of isolates resisted to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, streptomycin, ampicillin, and amoxicillin-clavulanic were above 50%. PFGE profiles of 34 Salmonella isolates could be grouped into 11 clusters, the isolates with the same serotype were commonly grouped into the same cluster. PFGE profiles of isolates with the same serotype and recovered from different samples in same sampling time and marketplace were similar or highly similar, which indicated the retail chickens might be cross-contaminated by Salmonella during processing and/or sale. Genotype of Salmonella isolates from farmer's market was more diversed than those from supermarkets. Conclusion The retail raw chicken cuts in Yangling and its surrounding districts were contaminated by Salmonella, which not only exhibited diverse serotypes and genotypes, but high frequency of antibiotic resistance.