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Abstract Background Multiple chronic conditions (MCC) refer to the presence of two or more chronic diseases. The incidence of MCC is higher in older people, and increases with age. Studies have shown an association between MCC and increased adverse outcome, as well as the higher mortality, decline of physical function, and poor quality of life in older populations. Herein, for the first time we provide the data of ethnic and geographic variations in the prevalence of MCC among community-dwelling older people in Xinjiang, China. Methods A multilevel random sampling method was employed to perform an epidemiological survey in community-dwelling older adults in southern, northern, and eastern Xinjiang between January 2019 to December 2019. In total, 87,000 participants volunteered, with a response rate of 96.67%; 490 participants with incomplete data were excluded and data from 86,510 participants were analyzed. Results Our analysis demonstrated that hypertension (51.5%), obesity (27.0%), diabetes (16.9%), heart disease (8.2%), and anxiety/depression (4.5%) were the five main chronic diseases in Xinjiang. The prevalence of MCC in the population surveyed was 33.4% (95%CI, 33.1–33.7). The prevalence in females was 36.6% (95%CI, 36.1–37), which was higher than that in male (30%,95%CI, 29.5–30.4). The prevalence of MCC in older people aged 60–69, 70–79, 80–89, and ≥ 90 years was 32.7% (95%CI, 32.2–33.3), 34.3% (95%CI, 33.9–34.7), 32.5% (95% CI, 31.7–33.3), and 25.9% (95% CI, 23.5–28.3) respectively. As far as the ethnic group was concerned, the prevalence of MCC in Uygur, Han, Kazak, Hui, and Mongolian was 31.3% (95%CI, 30.9–31.7), 34.4% (95%CI, 33.9–35), 40.4% (95%CI, 39.1–41.8), 40.8% (95%CI, 38.9–42.7), 44.4% (95%CI, 38.1–50.6), respectively. The prevalence of MCC was 32.8% (95%CI, 32.1–33.5), 31.7% (95%CI, 31.2–32.1), 36.0% (95%CI, 35.3–36.7) and 39.2% (95%CI, 38.1–40.3) among uneducated, educated for 1–6, 7–9, and more than 10 years. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, and education by level, the binary logistic analysis showed that, compared with eastern Xinjiang, the risk of MCC in the southern area was increased (odds ratio [OR], 1.418; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.367–1.471), and it was relatively higher in northern Xinjiang (OR, 2.021; 95% CI, 1.944–2.102). Compared with Uygur, Han, Kazakh, Hui and Mongolian had an increased risk of MCC, which was (OR, 1.075; 95% CI, 1.040–1.111), (OR, 1.414; 95% CI, 1.332–1.501), (OR, 1.515; 95% CI, 1.396–1.644), (OR, 1.566; 95% CI, 1.216–2.017), respectively. Conclusions There are ethnic and geographic variations in multiple chronic conditions among community-dwelling older people in Xinjiang. The older adults living in northern and southern Xinjiang and Han, Kazakh, Mongolian and Hui older adults have a higher risk of MCC.