The calculation equation of large diameter bored pile's effective length is connected with its distribution of pile shaft resistance. Thus, there is a great difference between the calculation results under the different distributions of pile shaft resistance. Primarily, this paper summarizes the conceptualized mode of pile shaft resistance under the circumstance that the soil surrounding the piles presents different layer distributions. Secondly, based on Mindlin's displacement solution and in consideration of the effect of pile diameter, the calculation equation is optimized with the assumption that the pile shaft resistance has a parabolic distribution. The influencing factors are analyzed according to the calculation result of effective pile length. Finally, combined with an engineering example, the calculation equation deduced in this paper is analyzed and verified. The result shows that both the Poisson ratio of soil and pile diameter have impacted the effective pile length. Compared with the Poisson ratio of soil, the effect of pile diameter is more significant. If the pile diameter remains the same, the effect of the Poisson ratio of soil to the effective pile length decreases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. If the Poisson ratio of soil remains the same, the effect of the pile diameter to the effective pile length increases as the ratio of pile elastic modulus and soil share modulus increases. Thus the optimized calculation result of pile effective length under the consideration of pile diameter effect is more close to the actual situation of engineering and reasonably practicable.