The existing evaluation systems for asphalt pavement pothole repair focused on structural and service performance while ignoring the visual consistency between the repaired area and the original pavement. Color difference was proposed as an important indicator for assessing repair quality. A quantitative evaluation method of color difference suitable for asphalt pavement repair scenarios was developed. Road surface images were collected from national and provincial highways in Shaanxi Province, covering different service years, repair materials, and construction methods. Color correction and region-of-interest (ROI) sampling methods were applied. In the CIELab color space, CIELAB76, CIE94, and CIEDE2000 color difference formulas were used to calculate the color difference between repaired areas and original pavement. The calculated results were verified with spectrophotometer measurements. A visual color difference evaluation test was conducted to obtain mean opinion scores (MOS). Correlation analysis was used to assess the consistency between objective color difference indicators and human visual perception. Results indicated that color differences in repaired areas were common, with ΔE00 mean and median values of 18.86 and 14.92, respectively. Most samples reached levels clearly perceptible to the human eye. Compared with spectrophotometer measurements, ΔE00 had mean absolute error(MAE), root mean square error(RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error(MAPE) values of 0.598, 0.729, and 11.75%, respectively, which were significantly better than CIELAB76 and CIE94. Subjective evaluation showed good consistency among evaluators (ICC=0.87). ΔE00 was strongly positively correlated with MOS(Pearson r=0.91,Spearman ρ=0.89). Based on the ΔE00–MOS mapping, a visual grading standard for repair color difference was established: excellent(ΔE00≤5), acceptable (5<ΔE00≤10), unacceptable(10<ΔE00≤20), and poor(ΔE00>20). The CIEDE2000 color difference formula provided higher measurement accuracy and better visual consistency in evaluating asphalt pavement pothole repairs. The proposed color difference grading thresholds offer quantitative references for repair quality evaluation and maintenance decision-making.