Objective To investigate the contamination of Listeria monocytogenes （L. monocytogenes） in ready-to-eat （RTE） foods in Wenzhou City， and characterize the antimicrobial resistance， virulence gene profiles， and genetic diversity of the isolates.Methods L. monocytogenes strains were isolated and identified according to GB 4789.30—2016. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the broth microdilution method. Virulence genes， multilocus sequence typing （MLST）， and core genome multilocus sequence typing （cgMLST） were analyzed based on whole-genome sequencing.Results A total of 91 strains of L. monocytogenes were isolated from 1 285 samples across 5 categories of RTE foods， with a detection rate of 7.08% （91/1 285）. Among these， the detection rate of Chinese cold dishes was the highest （14.34%， 36/251）， followed by cooked meat products （9.62%，15/156）. The susceptibility rates of the isolates to each of the nine antimicrobial agents ranged from 94.51% to 100.00%. The isolates comprised two lineages （Ⅰ and Ⅱ）， 15 STs， and 14 CCs. The predominant serogroups were Ⅱa （47.25%，43/91） and Ⅱb （32.97%，30/91）. The CC87/ST87 （21.98%，20/91）， CC121/ST121 （16.48%，15/91）， and CC8/ST8 （13.19%，12/91） were the dominant sequence types. All isolates carried virulence genes associated with LIPI-1（Listeria Pathogenicity Island 1， LIPI-1） and LIPI-2， 19.78% （18/91） harbored the LIPI-3， while the LIPI-4 was exclusive to strains of CC619/ST3004 and CC87/ST87.Conclusion L. monocytogenes is prevalent to a certain extent in RTE foods in Wenzhou City. The isolates exhibited low antimicrobial resistance， displayed high genetic diversity， and possessed pathogenic potential. Strengthening surveillance of highly virulent clones is essential for preventing the foodborne disease outbreaks.