Globally, hypertension is the biggest risk factor for the occurrences of cardiovascular diseases, and its harm to human health is mainly through target organ damage. The common pothological basis for hypertension, which causes damage to target organs such as heart, brain, and kidney, and their terminal complications, is arterial stiffness, atherosclerosis, stenosis, and occlusion. Pulse wave velocity is one of the important parameters to evaluate arterial stiffness, and it is also one of the indicators for subclinical target organ damage. This review aims to explore the clinical value of pulse wave velocity in hypertensive target organ damage.