The invention discloses a PZT-based piezoelectric ceramic and a preparation method thereof. In component design, at least one of CaO, BaO, SrO and MgO is doped into PZT ceramic to improve the performance of a ceramic material; and in the preparation method, weighed chemical raw materials are subjected to primary grinding by a ball mill according to a design formula, and then, drying andsieving are carried out; then, the sieved powder is subjected to radiation synthesis in a microwave oven to form presintered powder; and secondary grinding is carried out according to the ball mill method, drying and sieving are carried out, a PVA solution is added for granulating, and then, dry-pressing molding is carried out to obtain a green body; and finally, sintering and densifying are carried out in a microwave oven to obtain the PZT-based piezoelectric ceramic product. Compared with the prior art, on the basis of a traditional powder metallurgy process, and by introducing the microwave radiation synthesis superfine powder and microwave sintering technology, the method has the advantages of being excellent in comprehensive performance, environmentally friendly, high in production efficiency, capable of easily achieving batch production and the like, can well meet commercial requirements and is very suitable for preparing PZT-based piezoelectric ceramic products.