A recent development, a concrete-filled steel(CFS) pier is an alternative to a reinforced concrete bridge pier in an urban area, because of its fast construction and excellent ductility against earthquakes. The capacity of CFS piers has not been used to a practical design, because there is no guide of a seismic design for CFS piers. Therefore, the guide of a seismic design value is derived from tests of CFS piers in order to apply it to a practical seismic design. Steel piers and concrete-filled steel piers are tested with constant axial load using quasi-static cyclic lateral load to check ductile capacity and using the real Kobe ground motion of pseudo-dynamic test to verify seismic performance. The results prove that CFS piers have more satisfactory ductility and strength than steel piers and relatively large hysteretic damping in dynamic behaviors. The seismic performance of steel and CFS piers is quantified on the basis of the test results. These results are evaluated through comparison of both the response modification factor method by elastic response spectrum and the performance-based design method by capacity spectrum and demand spectrum using effective viscous damping. The response modification factor of CFS piers is presented to apply in seismic design on a basis of this evaluation for a seismic performance.