Abstract: Urban-rural integration represents an advanced stage in the evolution of urban-rural relationships and offers a fundamental means of addressing imbalanced and inadequate urban-rural development. Based on the DPSIR model and four core dimensions of the digital economy, this study constructs an refined evaluation index systems for digital economy development and urban-rural integration. Using panel data from 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China from 2008 to 2023, excluding Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Daxing’anling Prefecture, this paper employs multiple econometric models to systematically examine the relationship between digital economy development and urban-rural integration and underlying mechanisms. Results show that, temporally, both digital economy development and urban-rural integration in Northeast China exhibit a sustained upward trend and are significantly positively correlated. Spatially, the two indicators demonstrate clear spatial agglomeration and follow a classic core-periphery pattern. The digital economy has a significant positive effect on urban-rural integration. Optimizing capital allocation, improving employment quality, and upgrading the industrial structure serve as key transmission channels, among which employment quality exhibits the strongest and most robust mediating effect. Furthermore, digital economy development generates significant positive spatial spillovers, with local digital advancement promoting urban-rural integration in surrounding regions. Nevertheless, the talent siphoning effect associated with more favorable employment conditions creates negative spatial constraints and weakens local positive effects. Based on these findings, this study proposes targeted policy recommendations to provide practical guidance for promoting high-quality, digitally driven, and coordinated urban-rural development throughout Northeast China.