Objective To investigate the current status of occupational stress and job satisfaction of vocational college teachers in Shanghai, and analyse the correlation between them. Methods A total of 413 teachers from 7 vocational colleges in different areas of Shanghai were selected for questionnaire survey, and the questionnaires were composed of demographic characteristics, occupational stress questionnaire and job satisfaction scale. Results The occupational stress and job satisfaction of vocational college teachers were at medium and slightly higher levels respectively. The relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction turned out an inverse-U shape. The job satisfaction was the highest when the occupational stress was at the mild level. However, the job satisfaction significantly declined when there was no or huge occupational stress. The influencing factors of occupational stress included part-time status, double competency teaching status, practicing in enterprise in regular timing, obtaining occupational qualification certificates and conducting research. The level of job satisfaction declined when occupational stress gradually increased over a certain degree on practicing in enterprise in regular timing, obtaining occupational qualification certificates and conducting research while teaching (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion Proper occupational stress may have positive effects on job satisfaction of vocational college teachers, and thus may enhance the working performance and teaching quality of them.