A shear-lag theory was developed to investigate the strain transfer from the metal substrate to the surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator through a bonding layer. A three-layer model of host structure-adhesive layer-resonator layer was established. The strain transfer was theoretically analyzed, and the main factors impacting the SAW sensor measurement were studied. The relationship between the sensor response and the individual effect of all these factors under static loads was discussed. Results showed that better accuracy could be achieved with increase in the adhesive stiffness or resonator length, or decrease in the adhesive thickness. The values of the strain transfer rate calculated from the analytical model agreed well with that from the available experiment data.