Abstract: Objective To investigate the cadmium contamination levels in commercially available foods in Jinhua City, assess the dietary cadmium exposure risk among Jinhua residents, and provide a scientific basis for optimizing dietary recommendations and managing cadmium exposure risks. Methods The detection date from 2013 to 2024, a total of 4434 samples of 15 categories of commercially available foods from the Jinhua Food Safety Risk Monitoring System, including rice, milled and processed grains, fresh vegetables 1 (leafy vegetables, celery, and daylily flowers), fresh vegetables 2 (legume vegetables, root and tuber vegetables, and stem vegetables other than celery), fresh vegetables 3 (all vegetables other than fresh vegetables 1 and fresh vegetables 2), fresh fruits, legumes and legume products, nuts and seeds, meat and meat products, eggs and egg products, milk and dairy products, fish, crustaceans (excluding sea crabs and mantis shrimp), sea crabs and mantis shrimp, other aquatic products (bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, and echinoderms), were collected from 9 counties (cities and districts) in Jinhua City to assess their cadmium contamination levels. Combined these results with data from the 2023 Jinhua City Resident Nutrition Surveillance Survey, the health risks associated with dietary cadmium exposure among residents of different ages and genders in Jinhua City were assessed according to the Provisional Tolerable Monthly Intake (PTMI) and Maximum Allowable Level (MOS) recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). A MOS > 1 indicates that the risk of dietary cadmium exposure for residents is at an acceptable level; a MOS ≤ 1 indicates that the risk of dietary cadmium exposure for residents is relatively high. Results The cadmium detection rate in food was 73.55% (3261/4434), with 4.06% (180/4434) of samples exceeding the limit. Foods with a high cadmium detection rate were primarily concentrated in sea crabs and mantis shrimp (98.59%), fresh vegetables 1 (94.92%), rice (87.93%), legumes and theirproducts (85.76%), and milled grain products (85.63%). The median cadmium concentration was 0.01 mg·kg^-1. Food categories with higher cadmium concentrations included sea crabs and mantis shrimp (0.644 mg·kg^-1), rice (0.032 mg·kg^-1), and fresh vegetables 1 (0.020 mg·kg^-1). A total of 2092 individuals were included in the population nutrition surveillance survey, and the average daily per capita food consumption reached 887.97 g·kg^-1, consisting of fresh vegetables (342.17 g·kg^-1), meat and meat products (141.29 g·kg^-1), and rice (110.70 g·kg^-1). The P₅₀ and P₉₅ cadmium mass fractions were used to define general and high exposure levels for assessing population exposure risk. At the general exposure level, the monthly average cadmium exposure for the population was 5.15 μg·kg^-1 (based on body weight; same applies below), with an MOS value of 4.85; the range of monthly average cadmium exposure across different age and gender groups was 3.97–6.80 μg·kg^-1, with MOS values all >1, indicating that the dietary cadmium exposure risk for the population was at an acceptable level. At the high exposure level, the monthly average cadmium exposure for the population was 36.02 μg·kg^-1, with an MOS value of 0.69; the monthly average cadmium exposure levels for different age and gender groups ranged from 27.68 to 48.37 μg·kg^-1, with MOS values ranging from 0.52 to 0.90, all of which were < 1; indicating that the dietary cadmium exposure risk for residents was relatively high. Rice and fresh vegetables were the major foods contributing to dietary cadmium exposure among residents in Jinhua City, each accounting for more than 30% of the total exposure contribution. Dietary cadmium exposure among minors aged 6–17 years in Jinhua City was higher than that of adults, and dietary cadmium exposure among females was higher than that among males. Conclusion Commercially available foods in Jinhua City exhibit varying degrees of cadmium contamination, with higher levels primarily found in aquatic products such as sea crabs and mantis shrimp, fresh vegetables such as leafy greens, celery, and daylily buds, as well as rice. The dietary cadmium exposure risk for residents of Jinhua City is at an acceptable level under general exposure conditions but poses a health risk under high exposure conditions. Cadmium monitoring of relevant foods should be strengthened, and dietary guidance should be provided to high-risk groups including minors aged 6–17 years and women.