Abstract: Based on the characteristics of the digital economy, this article constructs a five-dimension evaluation system to calculate the digital economic indices. It adopts the education Theil index to measure educational inequality. Using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2022, static and dynamic panel models, and mediation effect models are constructed to explore the improvement effect of digital economy on education inequality. The results show that the development of the digital economy helps alleviate educational inequality, and this conclusion remains valid after replacing key indicators and conducting endogeneity tests. However, the effect varies across regions: it is pronounced in eastern China yet insignificant in the central and western regions. In regions with sound digital infrastructure, the digital economy exerts a notable mitigating effect on education inequality, while such effect is not observed in regions with inadequate digital infrastructure. Mechanism analysis reveals that the digital economy can indirectly reduce education inequality by narrowing the urban-rural income gap and promoting investment in public human capital. Further research indicates that the impact of the digital economy on educational inequality presents significant spatial spillover effects.