Core Ideas Plants originated from the high‐vigor seeds presented more efficiency on nitrogen fixation. Low vigor levels resulted in higher yield variability among plants. Plants grown from high vigor seeds exhibited higher yield. Several factors may limit the germination, growth, development, and productivity of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]. Thus, seed physiological quality is important for crop establishment and uniformity. Among seed quality characteristics, vigor plays a key role for grain production. The objective of this study was to evaluate how seed vigor affects the population density, plant growth, nitrogen fixation, sugar, and starch content in nodes and these influences on yield components in soybean. Treatments consisted of varying vigor levels of seeds of the DM 5958 RSF IPRO cultivar. Using accelerated ageing test, seeds were exposed to 32°C heat for 0, 120, 192, and 216 h to obtain 90%, 75%, 63%, and 48% vigor levels. A field experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with four replicates at three locations. Root and shoot dry mass, leaf area, population density, plant height, stem diameter, nodulation, total soluble sugar and starch content, and grain yield components were measured. Plants grown from high‐vigor seeds had greater shoot and root dry mass, leaf area, population density, stem diameter, plant height, number of nodules, nodule dry mass, and thousand‐seed weight values. The numbers of productive and unproductive nodes and total soluble sugar and starch contents did not vary significantly with the treatments. Low vigor seeds resulted in increased production variability among plants while high vigor seeds resulted in higher yields due to a greater plant population density.