Based on provincial panel data from 2012 to 2021, this paper examines the dual effect of state auditing on the government response to people’s livelihood. The study finds that the relationship between state auditing and government responses to people’s livelihoods is an inverted “U” shape. When state auditing intensity is low, the promotion effect of auditing supervision dominates, and state auditing is positively correlated with government responses to people’s livelihoods. When state auditing intensity is high, the suppression effect triggered by fiscal pressure dominates, and state auditing is negatively correlated with government responses to people’s livelihoods. Further research shows that public oversight and informationization have negative moderating effects on this inverted “U” shape. Moreover, government responses to people’s livelihoods in lowresponse regions and in areas with higher market index are more easily influenced by state auditing. Based on this, the paper proposes several suggestions, such as increasing the auditing intensity of livelihoodrelated special funds, expanding the scope of livelihood auditing, actively responding to revenue and expenditure pressure, and focusing on ensuring the development of people’s livelihoods, to ensure that the government’s response to people’s livelihood needs remains at a reasonable level.