•Three correlation coefficients of hydration heat and strength are compared.•Linear and nonparametric correlation analysis is used quantitatively.•More variables are considered, the greater of the multiple correlation coefficient. Analysis of linear and nonlinear dependencies of hydration characteristics and strength development is of interest for reliable and cost-effective designs. In this paper, the statistical assessment of linear and nonparametric correlation analysis model is used to investigate the association of these properties quantitatively. The bivariate correlation of early hydration characteristics within 72 h and compressive strength at different curing ages is evaluated by Pearson’s, Spearman’s rho and Kendall’s tau correlation coefficient, respectively. Assessment results of various methods show that early hydration characteristics and compressive strength have a strong correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the coefficient fitted by Spearman’s rho correlation analysis is higher than those by Pearson’s and Kendall’s tau analyses. The calculated correlation coefficients of middle and long curing ages (e.g. 28 d and 56 d) are higher than those in the early curing ages (e.g. 3 d and 7 d). For multiple correlation analysis, the correlation coefficients between heat release characteristics and mechanical properties undergo a fundamental change. The more variables of hydration characteristic are considered, the greater the multiple correlation coefficient of compressive strength, and the coefficients of middle and long curing age strength have a narrower range than early age compressive strength. Hence, the linear and nonparametric correlation model is a useful quantitative evaluation method for assessing the relationship between the early hydration characteristics and compressive strength for multi-composite blends.