Objective To analyze the correlation between diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) ADC values and histopathological types and differentiation degree of cervical cancer. Methods A total of 118 cases of patients diagnosed with cervical cancer by pathological examination in our hospital were selected, and they were given routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) before operation. The ADC values of cervical cancer were obtained, and the correlation between ADC values and histopathological types and differentiation degree of cervical cancer were analyzed. Results The ADC value of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma was significantly lower than that of patients with adenocarcinoma (t=4.839, P<0.05). There were significant differences in ADC values among cervical cancer patients with different differentiation degrees (P<0.05), and ADC values in poorly differentiated group were lower than those in moderately differentiated group and highly differentiated group (P<0.05), and the ADC values in moderately differentiated group were lower than those in highly differentiated group (P<0.05). The ADC value was positively correlated with the differentiation degree of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (P<0.05). Conclusion The ADC value of cervical squamous cell carcinoma is lower than that of cervical adenocarcinoma. The ADC value is correlated with the differentiation degree of cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and can be used as one of the important indexes to evaluate the pathological type and differentiation degree of cervical cancer.