Abstract: To investigate the effects of different straw returning methods on maize yield and soil microbial community structure in northeast China, a continuous field experiment was conducted in a typical brown earth area. Four treatments of no fertilizer (CK), regular chemical fertilizer without straw returning (FP), straw returning with deep tillage (SFP), and deep returning of straw compost under low-temperature (SFPM) were set up. Maize yield, soil nutrients and soil aggregates were determined by conventional methods, soil bacterial diversity and abundance were determined by high-throughput sequencing methods to analyze the effects of changes in soil environmental factors on soil microbial communities. Compared with the FP treatment, the maize grain yield increased after two years in the SFP treatment, and that increased in the year with the SFPM treatment. Moreover, the increasing trend of soil organic matter (SOM) was consistent with that of maize grain yield in both SFP and SFPM treatments, and in which the abundances of Deltaproteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Thermoleophilaceae, Betaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria were significant increased as well. The principal component analysis showed that soil nutrients (SOM, TN, TP, TK) were explained 41.24% of the variation of bacterial communities, and of which soil aggregates (0-20 cm) were explained 34.15%. Maize straw returning with low-temperature compost increased maize yield, improving soil fertility and soil microbial community structure in brown earth area.