Digital finance breaks the bottleneck of limited traditional brick and mortar outlets and improves the availability of financial services, thereby directly or indirectly alleviating rural poverty. What impact does it have on the income gap of rural residents is a meaningful theme. Based on the 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, the authors use the Recentered Influence Function Regression (RIF)method to study the impact and mechanism of digital finance on the income gap among rural households from the perspective of income structure. The study shows that digital finance has a significant effect on reducing poverty and increasing income for rural residents, and can widen the income gap within them. Specifically, the development of digital finance can increase rural residents’ salary by increasing their employment, but due to differences in education level and social network, the salary gap among rural residents is showing a widening trend. the development of digital finance directly eases credit constraints and promotes the breadth of financial coverage, thereby improving the operating income and property income of rural residents, however, due to the existence of "practical differences" and "self-exclusion", the operating income gap and property income gap is showing a widening trend. Furthermore, through the analysis of heterogeneity of capital, it is found that effects of intensifying internal income gap among high-physical capital owners, high-social capital owners are significant, which is further verified our hypotheses. Based on the above conclusions, the following suggestions are proposed: firstly, we should actively pay attention to the level of elementary education in rural areas, expand the population base receiving education in rural areas, and improve the breadth and depth of digital finance knowledge promotion. Second, relevant departments should guide traditional financial institutions to develop digital information platforms, carry out digital transformation, and expand and strengthen online business channels. Thirdly, relevant departments should draw on new business models such as the Grameen Bank to supplement the imperfect development of digital finance in rural areas. This paper suggests dynamically monitoring the development of digital finance, strengthening digital rural performance, improving rural residents’ financial literacy, encouraging financial products innovation and channels diversification for rural vitalization.