Purpose The vertebral bone quality (VBQ) score based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced as a bone quality marker in the lumbar spine. Prior studies showed that it could be utilized as a predictor of osteoporotic fracture or complications after instrumented spine surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between VBQ scores and bone mineral density (BMD) measured by quantitative computer tomography (QCT) in the cervical spine. Methods Preoperative cervical CT and sagittal T1-weighted MRIs from patients undergoing ACDF were retrospectively reviewed and included. The VBQ score in each cervical level was calculated by dividing the signal intensity of the vertebral body by the signal intensity of the cerebrospinal fluid on midsagittal T1-weighted MRI images and correlated with QCT measurements of the C2–T1 vertebral bodies. A total of 102 patients (37.3% female) were included. Results VBQ values of C2–T1 vertebrae strongly correlated with each other. C2 showed the highest VBQ value Median (range) 2.33 (1.33, 4.23) and T1 showed the lowest VBQ value Median (range) 1.64 (0.81, 3.88). There was significant weak to moderate negative correlations between and VBQ Scores for all levels C2: p  < 0.001; C3: p  < 0.001; C4: p  < 0.001; C5: p  < 0.004; C6: p  < 0.001; C7: p  < 0.025; T1: p  < 0.001. Conclusion Our results indicate that cervical VBQ scores may be insufficient in the estimation of BMDs, which might limit their clinical application. Additional studies are recommended to determine the utility of VBQ and QCT BMD to evaluate their potential use as bone status markers.