Abstract: To improve the impact resistance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRP), a CFRP-rubber alternating layup strategy was adopted, and three types of CFRP-rubber laminated structures were designed using a "layer-number increase versus thickness-refinement" approach. Low-velocity impact tests were conducted at different energy levels to investigate the mechanical behavior and damage mechanisms of the laminated specimens under impact. The results show that, while keeping the total rubber thickness constant, CFRP-rubber laminates with 1, 3, and 5 rubber layers exhibit the effectively reduced peak force compared with CFRP specimens. Among them, the impact force of laminates with 3 and 5 rubber layers exhibits a double-peak characteristic. As the number of rubber layers increases, the maximum peak of impact force gradually decreases, while the maximum displacement and energy absorption capacity significantly improve. The damage morphology of CFRP-rubber specimens mainly manifests as interfacial delamination and through-thickness irreversible deformation. When the number of rubber layers exceeds a certain value, the improvement in energy absorption slows down, and the irreversible deformation of the structure at high impact energy becomes excessive. The CFRP laminated specimens with three rubber layers achieve an optimal balance between impact resistance and structural integrity under the same total rubber thickness, enabled by the synergistic cushioning-load-bearing interaction between rubber and CFRP layers.