Objective To evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of gastric cancer patients with bone metastasis. Methods The subjects were 139 gastric cancer patients who were diagnosed with bone metastasis between 2005 and 2015. The influences of pathological characteristics and clinical treatment on the survival time of the patients were analyzed. Results The common sites of bone metastasis were spine, pelvis and ribs. The median survival time of the gastric cancer patients with bone metastasis was 15.1 months, but the median survival time after diagnosis of bone metastasis was only 5.7 months. Tumor stage, simultaneous bone metastasis or not, chemotherapy and bisphosphonate therapy were the independent prognostic factors for overall survival in the gastric patients with bone metastasis (P < 0.05). Whether received chemotherapy or not after bone metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for patients’ survival (P < 0.05). Conclusions Bone metastasis usually occurs in advanced stage of gastric cancer, and indicates poor prognosis. After bone metastasis, accepting chemotherapy can prolong the survival time of the patients. Clinicians should pay more attention and provide active therapy to the gastric cancer patients with bone metastasis.