The article considers approaches to determining the importance of human capital for the socio-economic development of the territories of the Russian Federation, as well as determining its place in the structure of the territorial socio-economic potential. The article shows that human capital is the basis for the formation of the regional economic system and serves as the basis for the implementation of the regional socio-economic potential. The authors define human capital as a key socio-economic and productive factor in the development of not only the modern economy, but also modern society. Regional human capital is defined as a set of human resources with their knowledge, abilities, skills, etc., formed both within the framework of individual human capital and within the framework of corporate human capital, localized on the territory of the region and able to provide reproduction processes within the regional socio-economic system. The article shows that the regional human capital in the structure of the socio-economic potential of the region has both quantitative (population size, including population migration; the gender and age composition of the population of the region, etc.), and the quality characteristics (the level of education and qualifications of the population of the region, the effectiveness of the use of human capital, etc.), reflect the importance of human capital in the state’s program documents. The article proposes the author’s vision of human capital as a resource for the socio-economic development of the region and proves that from the point of view of the realization of the socioeconomic potential of the region, the human resources of a particular region should be considered by regional authorities and management not only as a key resource that ensures the socio-economic development of the region, but also as a resource that imposes certain requirements necessary for the direct realization of human capital (potential).