Objective To evaluate the effect of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) on vascular endothelial function and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in patients with essential hypertension. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 133 patients treated with calcium channel blockers or no medication in the outpatient department of the hospital from September 2016 to March 2017. The blood samples of the patients were collected, and the serum vitamin D content, plasma renin activity (PRA), angiotensin II, and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) were assessed. At the same time, vasodilation function (FMD) was evaluated with the vascular endothelial function detector. Results Among the 133 patients, 94 (70.7%) had vitamin D deficiency. There were significant differences in age, systolic pressure, HDL-c, LDL-c, vitamin D, Hs-CRP, parathyroid hormone, PRA, and FMD between the normal vitamin D group and the vitamin D deficiency group (P <0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that vitamin D had a significant correlation with age (r=-0.21, P=0.033), office systolic blood pressure (r=-0.22, P =0.035), Hs-CRP (r=-0.23, P =0.031), parathyroid hormone (r= -0.19, P=0.039), PRA (r=-0.31, P =0.013), and FMD (r=0.35, P =0.010). The multivariate linear regression analysis showed serum vitamin D had a significant negative association with PRA (β = -0.235, P = 0.002) but a significant positive association with FMD (β=0.432, P<0.001). Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency is very common in patients with essential hypertension, and vitamin D level is independently associated with PRA activity and FMD.