Using Tianjin as a case study, this study systematically evaluates the impact of the fragmentation of rural settlements on land-use efficiency and its gradient effects, from the dual perspectives of topographic and econo-mic gradients, based on approaches including landscape pattern indices and the geographically weighted regression model. The results show that: 1) Rural settlements in Tianjin are predominantly characterized by medium to high levels of fragmentation, displaying a concentric spatial pattern of gradual increase from the city center to the periphery, with relatively lower fragmentation in the Peri-urban Area and the Binhai New Area, and higher fragmentation in the Jizhou mountainous area and outer suburban area. Their land-use efficiency is mainly at medium to low levels, showing an opposite spatial pattern to fragmentation, declining gradually from the peri-urban area to the outer suburban area and the Jizhou mountainous area. 2) A significant correlation is observed between the fragmentation of rural settlements and land-use efficiency. Specifically, patch density, splitting index, and landscape shape index are negatively correlated with the land-use efficiency of rural settlements, whereas Mean Patch Area is positively correlated with it. 3) The impact of rural settlement fragmentation on land-use efficiency exhibits significant spatial non-stationarity. The effect is the strongest in areas with low topographic gradients, followed by areas with high topographic gradients, and relatively weaker in areas with moderate topographic gradients, while the impact intensity gradually decreases with increasing economic gradients. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for implementing rural settlement reconstruction and village planning.