Abstract <p>Due to the uneven distribution of socioeconomic development, the actual demand for water resources management varies in different areas. In this paper, Zhejiang Province in China was used as an example to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic development and water consumption, and a general method based on self-organizing map (SOM) model was proposed for classification based on water consumption characteristics. The results show that the study area has presented remarkable socioeconomic development over the past decade, while the total water consumption has been decreasing, indicating an improvement in water consumption efficiency. On the basis of the socioeconomic and water consumption data, the county-level administrative areas in Zhejiang Province were classified into 5 divisions through SOM model. The changes of the divisions implied that the water consumption patterns of several county-level administrative areas have changed significantly and there is a trend of population and industrial concentration. It is proven that the classification method proposed in this paper is feasible and can be served as a reference for formulating water resources management policies that is more in line with regional conditions.</p>