To further understand the physical and chemical properties of the millet starches in Shanxi province, eight typical species of millet were chosen and the particle morphology, size, amylose content, iodine blue value, light transmittance, freeze-thaw stability, gelatinization characteristics, solubility, swelling power, retrogradation curve and other physicochemical characterizations were evaluated. Results showed that the millet starch granules were all single particle with regular shape, and most of the millet starch particles were polygonal while few were ovoid. All the particles had clear polarizing cross, and the morphological differences of starch grain particles were evident between varieties. Moreover, on the basis of particle size, the eight millet cultivars were clearly classified as two categories which ranged from 0.42 to 2.25 μm and 3.42 to 29.26 μm, respectively. The amylose content, iodine blue value, light transmittance, water segregation rate, and gelatinization temperature were in the range of 2.22~17.96%, 0.586~0.872, 2.4~29.2%, 3.67~49.85% and 67.6~78.8 ℃, respectively, indicating that the differences between different varieties were significant. All of these results suggested that the different millet varieties should be chosen according to the different processing purposes.