The Loess Plateau has always been one of the most serious soil erosion and environmental problems regions in China. Artificial vegetation restoration can effectively improve soil properties and soil quality, therefore clarifying the responses of soil moisture and nutrient properties to long-term artificial vegetation restoration is conducive to further effectively improving the eco-environment. This study selected three typical vegetation types, including natural restoration secondary forest land, artificial Robinia pseudoacacia forest land and artificial Pinus tabulaeformis forest land, during ecological restoration in the loess region of western Shanxi. By measuring soil physical properties, soil moisture contents and soil nutrients such as organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents, the differences under the long-term artificial vegetation restorations were comparatively analyzed. The results showed that:(1) The soil bulk density of secondary forest land, Robinia pseudoacacia forest land and Pinus tabulaeformis forest land in 0-20 cm shallow layer was 1.15, 1.04 and 1.06 g/cm³, respectively. The soil bulk density increased with the increase of soil depth. (2) The soil moisture of secondary forest land in shallow layer was better than those of Robinia pseudoacacia forest land and Pinus tabulaeformis forest land. When soil moisture consumption period (before the start of growth season) transited to the accumulation period (at the beginning of the growth season), the dynamic variations of soil moisture in secondary forest land were more dramatic. (3) The soil carbon storage in secondary forest land was higher, while the soil nitrogen and phosphorus storage in Pinus tabulaeformis forest land was higher. The vertical variations of soil nutrients of the three forest lands had significant differences with accumulation in surface layer. The contents of organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available nitrogen and available potassium all decreased with the increase of soil depth, while the contents of available phosphorus increased first and then decreased. Considering the soil moisture and nutrient condition, it was suggested that the secondary forest should be mainly conserved in the process of vegetation restoration to achieve the better water and carbon storage and other ecological benefits, which would be conducive to the optimization of stand management, and the promotion of vegetation restoration and ecological construction in the western Shanxi loess region.