•A water-heat-salt coupled model under evaporation for saline soil is developed.•Comparison of the water-heat-salt transport characteristics at varying salt content.•Salt content crucially affects liquid water and salt transport under evaporation. Soil salinization is aggravated by evaporation, resulting in salt crystallizing on the soil surface. Soil salinization is harmful to agriculture and has significant implications for the engineering and construction industry. Therefore, this paper investigates water and salt transport in saline soils through comparison of numerical simulations with indoor evaporation tests. Based on Darcy's law, ideal gas law, mass conservation law, and energy conservation law, a one-dimensional transient mathematical model of coupled water-heat-salt transport is derived. The bottom of the model represents a recharge boundary condition, the sides of the soil column are insulated and impermeable, and the top serves as a heat source. The results show that the greater the salinity of the soil, the more drastic the temperature change, and at the same time, the greater the water retention of the soil. The temperature gradient along the height of the soil column provides a tremendous driving force for water-salt transport, and although the volumetric water content of the soil column at 3 ∼ 4 cm dissipates quickly, there is a gradient of increasing salt concentration towards the ends and decreasing towards the middle. The modeled results agree with the experimental data, indicating that the model can effectively simulate the water-heat-salt transport process for different saline sites under evaporation conditions. The model is essential for the improvement of saline soils and for finding new methods to prevent further soil salinization.