Two main wheat cultivars (RM4 and SN22) were planted in thirty-three typical soils collected in the main rice-wheat rotation regions in China to investigate the characteristics of cadmium (Cd) translocation in soil-wheat systems and the major controlling factors. The results show that Cd concentration in wheat grains is 0.21(0.040-0.99) mg/kg for RM4 and 0.18(0.037-0.70) mg/kgfor SN22, and the percentage of exceeding Cd limit (GB 2762-2017) is 75.6% for RM4 and 69.7% for SN22. The bio-concentration factor (BCF) of Cd in wheat grains is 0.92(0.24-2.55) for RM4 and 0.81(0.16-1.67) for SN22, respectively, both showing strong ability of accumulating Cd. Multiple stepwise regression analysis and Generalized Boosted Models(GBM) indicate that soil Cd concentration and pH are the two most important variables which influencing Cd accumulation in wheat grains, which explain 81.3% and 80.5% among five soil variables of the thirty-three soils.