Urban-rural integration serves as a pragmatic strategy for developing social security in China, while promoting common prosperity represents a value-driven choice. Moving from urban-rural integration toward promoting common prosperity, the social security system faces several practical challenges, including limited medical and healthcare resources, disparities in social insurance benefits, inadequacies in social assistance levels, and deficiencies in social welfare expenditures. To overcome these challenges, a gradual practical approach has been formed based on three institutional logics: the institutional integration logic for bridging the gap, the institutional adaptability logic for enhancing resilience, and the institutional enhancement logic for empowering prosperity. This approach involves a progression from management integration to institutional alignment and system integration. Promotion of common prosperity through urban-rural integration not only provides a practical perspective and realistic depiction of China’ s unique social security system but also encompasses the institutional civilization and value implications associated with the development of social security in China.