The welding residual stress of X80 pipeline steel butt joint is simulated by means of finite element analysis, and the distribution of residual stress is obtained. The results show that the overall variation trend of circumferential residual stress increases at first, and after arc stabilization, the residual stress reaches the peak and maintains, and then decreases near the arc ending position. The overall trend of axial residual stress increases at first and then steadily decreases after reaching the peak. The simulation results of residual stress are in good agreement with the two measurement methods, and the results of X-ray diffraction method are higher than those of blind hole method. Through the finite element simulation technology, the location of the larger stress can be predicted, which has great guiding significance in engineering application to prevent stress corrosion cracking effectively.