Abstract: Hierarchical ZSM-5 and β zeolites were synthesized by solvent evaporation induced self-assembly and oriented attachment growth methods, respectively, and their catalytic properties in n-heptane cracking were assessed to determine the impact of hierarchical structure over catalysis. The catalytic cracking of n-heptane to generate light olefins was evaluated and the results demonstrated that high yields of light olefins could be attained on hierarchical zeolites, despite of lower conversions due to the reduction of acid site number. The hierarchical ZSM-5-HTS and β could increase the yield of light olefins by 16.78% and 21.63%, respectively. Hierarchical β-HTS zeolite outperformed hierarchical ZSM-5-HTS under identical operation conditions. Under optimized 680 ℃ and space velocity of 10 h⁻¹, the yield of light olefins by hierarchical β-HTS reached 50.29%, and simultaneously the highest propylene selectivity of 32.68% was achieved. The superior catalytic performance was attributed to a combined effect of reduced acid site density and enhanced diffusion property. The higher propylene selectivity was attributed to the unique large micropore size, better mesopore connectivity and decreased acid site density of hierarchical β-HTS.