Objective To explore the association between serum asprosin and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the community. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we retrospectively collected the clinical data of T2DM patients from a community health service center in southeastern Shanxi Province between November 2019 and July 2021. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of asprosin levels on the risk of DN. Results Among 498 T2DM patients included in this study, 221 had microalbuminuria, 105 had massive albuminuria, and 172 did not have any signs of nephropathy. Serum asprosin level was positively correlated with diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, ACR and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (all P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c and estimated glomerular filtration rate (all P < 0.05). After adjusting for covariates, increased asprosin was associated with diabetic nephropathy (all OR = 2.560, 95% CI: 1.1592–4.116; P < 0.001). Conclusion The risk of DN significantly increases with serum asprosin levels, especially among female patients.