Enhancing intensive land use is of great significance in promoting sustainable urban economicsocial- ecological development. We evaluated the integrated intensive land use level (ILU) of the Urban Agglomeration on the North Slope of Tianshan Mountain (UANSTM) and analyzed the difference between groups, barrier factors, and interaction between subsystems by using the Theil index, the obstacle degree model, and the structural equation model. The results showed that: the overall ILU in the UANSTM gradually increased from 2010 to 2022. In the four subsystems of the ILU, land use degree, land output effect, and land sustainable benefit displayed an increase, except for the land input level; the higher ILU was in the cities with higher socio-economic development, such as Shihezi, Urumqi, Karamay, and Kuitun, while Manasi, Wusu, and Shawan were on the low side. The ILU level decreased around the high value of Urumqi, Shihezi, and Karamay. The main obstacle factors were concentrated in the construction land and arable land indicators. The four subsystems of the ILU had an interplay with each other, and the land input level had an important role in promoting the other three subsystems, which was the fundamental driving force of the whole system. This paper provided a useful reference for the intensive land use of cities in arid areas and contributed to the high-quality development of cities.