Aims The purpose of this experiment was to study the bacterial diversity and predominance of spoilage bacteria in chicken skin at different thermal treatment temperatures (60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 degrees C). Method and Results Bacteria in chicken skin was collected, then propidium monoazide treatment to remove the DNA of dead cell, total DNA was extracted by Tiandz Bacterial DNA Kit, and investigated by high-throughput sequencing of the v3/v4 regions of the 16S rDNA gene. A total of 796 008 high-quality bacterial sequences were obtained for assessing the microbial diversity of chicken skin from seven thermal treatment group and control group. The results showed that the bacterial diversity in chicken skin at 90 degrees C was lowest. And Acinetobacter (25 center dot 88%), Clostridium (20 center dot 70%), Bacteroides (13 center dot 93%) and Myroides (13 center dot 13%) were the main flora at 25 degrees C; The Clostridium was dominant genus of the samples heat-treated by 60, 70, 80 and 90 degrees C, the proportion of this genus were up to 64 center dot 86, 77 center dot 42, 52 center dot 22 and 87 center dot 30% respectively. The Bacillus was the main flora of the samples heat-treated by 100, 110 and 120 degrees C, and the relative percentages were 39 center dot 44, 79 center dot 61 and 45 center dot 96% respectively. In addition, high-temperature-resistant Serratia was found in chicken skin. Conclusions The study revealed that the relationship between thermal treatment temperature and bacterial diversity and dominant spoilage bacteria in chicken skin, which had a strong guiding significance for the control and prediction of micro-organisms in foods. Significance and Impact of the Study The results of this paper could provide a theoretical basis for meat products containing chicken skin, including the safe use of chicken skin, determination of sterilization process parameters and selection of preservatives for compounding, which has strong practicality in China.