The 1978 Soviet First League was the eighth season of the Soviet First League and the 38th season of the Soviet second tier league competition.

Pos	Rep	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	RUS	Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev	38	21	14	3	59	25	+34	56[a]	Promoted
2	RUS	SKA Rostov-on-Don	38	20	14	4	64	35	+29	54
3	BLR	Dinamo Minsk	38	21	11	6	57	28	+29	53
4	UKR	Karpaty Lviv	38	21	10	7	60	37	+23	52[a]
5	RUS	Terek Grozny	38	16	9	13	56	56	0	41
6	RUS	Kuban Krasnodar	38	16	9	13	51	46	+5	41[b]
7	LTU	Žalgiris Vilnius	38	11	19	8	38	37	+1	41[b]
8	UKR	Tavriya Simferopol	38	14	12	12	48	38	+10	40
9	GEO	Torpedo Kutaisi	38	14	9	15	44	41	+3	37
10	MDA	Nistru Chișinău	38	13	11	14	42	40	+2	37
11	UKR	SKA Odessa	38	12	10	16	43	51	−8	34[b]
12	RUS	Shinnik Yaroslavl	38	12	10	16	37	42	−5	34
13	TJK	Pamir Dushanbe	38	10	14	14	47	41	+6	34
14	UKR	Metalurh Zaporizhzhia	38	10	14	14	39	47	−8	34
15	UKR	Spartak Ivano-Frankivsk	38	13	6	19	43	58	−15	32
16	RUS	Kuzbass Kemerovo	38	12	7	19	38	54	−16	31
17	RUS	Uralmash Sverdlovsk	38	10	11	17	31	50	−19	31
18	RUS	Spartak Orzhonikidze	38	10	8	20	30	50	−20	28
19	RUS	Dinamo Leningrad	38	7	13	18	47	65	−18	27
20	TKM	Kolhozchi Ashgabad	38	7	9	22	27	60	−33	23

Rank	Union republic	Number of teams	Club(s)
1	RSFSR	9	Terek Grozny, Kuban Krasnodar, Shinnik Yaroslavl, Kuzbass Kemerevo, Uralmash Sverdlovsk, Spartak Ordzhonikidze, Dinamo Leningrad, Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, SKA Rostov-na-Donu
2	Ukrainian SSR	5	Karpaty Lvov, Tavria Simferopol, SKA Odessa, Metallurg Zaporozhye, Prykarpatye Ivano-Frankovsk
3	Belarusian SSR	1	Dinamo Minsk
	Lithuanian SSR		Žalgiris Vilnius
	Georgian SSR		Torpedo Kutaisi
	Moldavian SSR		Nistru Kishinev
	Tajik SSR		Pamir Dushanbe
	Turkmen SSR		Kolhozchi Ashkhabad

• Soviet First League

• 1978 season. RSSSF