It is necessary to determine the appropriate upper and lower soil moisture limits for drip irrigated spring maize (Zea mays L.) at each growth stage to provide a theoretical basis for the upgrading of maize irrigation management in Xinjiang. Cultivar “Taiyu 339” was chosen as the test material, and three upper and lower limits of soil moisture (50%~80%FC, 60%~90%FC, 70%~100%FC, FC is the field capacity) were set at the jointing stage, flowering-filling stage and filling-maturity stage of maize respectively and nine treatments were established to analyze the effect of different moisture contents on the growth indicators, yield, quality and water use efficiency (WUE) of spring maize using the orthogonal experimental design method. The results showed that the plant height, aboveground dry matter mass, leaf area index (LAI) and yield decreased significantly when the soil moisture content was maintained at 50%~80%FC in each growth period, but water use efficiency increased. In general, the yield of T3 treatment was the highest, which was 17,114.51 kg/hm2; T4 treatment had the highest WUE, 3.11 kg/m3. Furthermore, Increasing the upper and lower limits of soil moisture content during the filling-maturity period was beneficial to increasing the content of crude protein, crude fat and starch in maize, among which, the indexes of T3 treatment scored the highest, which were 11.02, 4.11 and 69.96 g/100g, respectively. Taking yield, dry matter accumulation, quality and WUE as indicators, the comprehensive evaluation based on entropy weight method showed that T3 was the optimal treatment. In summary, the recommended appropriate soil moisture for drip irrigated spring maize in the northern Xijiang at the jointing stage, flowering-filling stage, and filling-maturity stage is 50%~70%FC, 70%~100%FC, and 70%~100%FC, respectively.