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This paper presents an analytical study of the in-plane dynamic crushing and energy absorption of hexagonal honeycombs with density gradients under different impact loading. Explicit dynamic finite element method simulations are carried out by using ANSYS/LS-DYNA. Firstly, under the assumption that the cell wall length is the same, a density-graded honeycomb mode is established by the variation of the cell wall thicknesses along the crushing direction. The effects of density gradient and impact velocity on the crushing deformation modes, plateau stresses and energy absorption characteristics of the specimens are explored in detail. Numerical results show that except for the impact velocity, the dynamic crushing performance and energy absorption abilities of honeycombs also rely on the density/strength gradients. The weakest layer is suggested to be placed at the impact end or the output end, and the strongest layer at the intermediate stage to achieve higher energy absorbing efficiency. According to the one-dimensional shock wave theory, the simple empirical formulae for graded honeycombs to predict the plateau stress are given under high-impact velocities. These results will provide some useful guides in the multi-objective optimization dynamic design and shock energy absorbing control of sandwich structures.