Three-time defending champion Chris Evert defeated Pam Shriver in the final, 7–5, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1978 US Open.

For the third consecutive year, Evert did not lose a set during the tournament.

This was the first edition of the US Open to be played on hard courts, and the first to be held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, relocating from its former site at Forest Hills.

2 Nancy Richey; she lost in the first round to Lesley Hunt.

Chris Evert is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.