To investigate the overall stability of stainless steel axial compression member with welded box-section, the nonlinear finite element simulation of the stainless steel axial compression members was conducted by ANSYS. By comparing the simulation results with the experimental results, the accuracy of the finite element (FE) model was verified. The initial geometric imperfections, section residual stress, mechanical properties, section width-to-thickness ratio and slenderness ratio which affect the overall stability of the member ultimate bearing capacity were parametrically analyzed by the proposed FE model. The results show that the mechanical properties and slenderness ratio of member are key influential factors on the ultimate load. A new three-section formula for calculating the overall stability coefficient has been proposed by data fitting, which can accurately predict the overall stable bearing capacity of stainless steel axial compression members with welded box-section.