Skin moisture is an important factor in skin health. Measurement of moisture content can provide diagnostic information on the condition of skin. In this study, a portable near-infrared (NIR) system was newly integrated with a photo diode array detector that has no moving parts, and this system has been successfully applied for the evaluation of human skin moisture. Diffuse reflectance spectra were collected and transformed to absorbance using 1 nm step size over the wavelength range of 1100 nm to 2200 nm. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was applied to develop a calibration model. For practical use for the evaluation of human skin moisture, the PLS model for human skin moisture was developed in vivo using the portable NIR system on the basis of the relative water content values of stratum corneum from the conventional capacitance method. The PLS model showed a good correlation. The calibration with the use of PLS model predicted human moisture with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 3.5 at 1120∼1730 nm range. This study showed the possibility of skin moisture measurement using portable NIR system.