In order to study the ductility behavior of steel box-section piers with T-shaped stiffeners subjected to a constant vertical load and lateral cyclic loading, the accuracy of the finite element analysis method is firstly verified by comparing with the test results. Then, a series of parametric studies is carried out to investigate the effect of the normalized flange width-thickness ratio, normalized pier’s slenderness ratio, normalized stiffener’s slenderness ratio and axial load ratio on the maximum strength and ductility behavior of steel box-section piers with T-shaped stiffeners. Finally, the formulas for predicting the maximum strength and ductility ratio of steel piers are proposed on the basis of parametric analysis results. The research results show that the ductility behavior of steel piers is significantly improved with the decrease of the normalized flange width-thickness ratio, normalized pier’s slenderness ratio, normalized stiffener’s slenderness ratio and axial load ratio.