Abstract: In order to solve the problems of uneven energy consumption and short network lifetime in wireless sensor networks, a clustering routing algorithm based on improved grey wolf optimization is proposed. In the cluster construction phase, the self-organizing map network (SOM) clustering algorithm is used to cluster the network nodes, and then the improved grey wolf optimization algorithm is used to select the optimal cluster head in each cluster. In the inter-cluster routing stage, a reasonable next hop is selected for the cluster head by comprehensively considering the residual energy and geographical location of the nodes. In the intra-cluster communication phase, polling control mechanism is introduced to further reduce network energy consumption. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can balance the network energy consumption, prolong the network lifetime and improve the network throughput in different scale scenarios.