Ecological compensation of the Chinese coal resource-depleted cities (CRDC) aims to improve its ecological and environmental management capabilities after coal mining damage. Based on data on land-use changes in the CRDC from 2000 to 2020 (2000, 2010, 2020), this study used the equivalent factor method to assess the value of ecosystem services in the basin. Our research objectives include 15 prefecture level cities with coal resource-bases cities in China. The priority and amount of ecological compensation were determined for the CRDC. Results show that (1) the CRDC experienced various changes in land during 2000 to 2020, mainly leading to the conversion of arable land to forest land and a significant increase in construction land. (2) The total value of ecosystem services in the CRDC decreased from 236.04 billion yuan in 2000 to 230.57 billion yuan in 2020. Forest had the highest total ecosystem service value in 2020, accounting for 75.21%. (3) There are four ESV trends in the 15 cities of CRDC from 2000 to 2010 to 2020, which are caused by various factors such as coal mining and government policies. (4) The ecosystem service value and the economic development level of the cities in the CRDC are positively and negatively correlated with the priority of ecological compensation, respectively. Among them, the priority and amount of ecological compensation in the Northeast region are the highest, including Shuangyashan, Baishan and Hegang, with compensation priority exceeding 0.35 and ecological compensation amount exceeding 1 billion yuan. The findings of this study fill the gap in ecological compensation for CRDC and provide novel insights for improving transfer payments for CRDC.