The invention discloses a preparation method for 2-phenylpropionic acid. The preparation method is characterized by comprising a 2-phenyl-2-cyano methyl propionate preparation stage, a 2-phenyl propionitrile preparation stage and a 2-phenylpropionic acid preparation stage, wherein the 2-phenyl-2-cyano methyl propionate preparation stage comprises: mixing benzyl cyanide, dimethyl carbonate, methylbenzene and sodium methoxide to obtain a mixture, heating the mixture to 20-100 DEG C, controlling the pressure to 0.5-6MPa and carrying out thermal-insulation reaction for 1-10 hours; after the reaction is ended, steaming out a byproduct methanol under the normal pressure, cooling the mixture to 35 DEG C, dropwise adding dimethyl sulfate DMS at constant speed by controlling the temperature to 35-85 DEG C, and carrying out the thermal-insulation reaction for 1-10 hours at 45-105 DEG C after the dropwise-adding is ended; cooling to 35 DEG C, adding water, stirring, dissolving, and layering; desolventizing to recycle toluene, thereby obtaining compound ester; and carrying out basic hydrolysis reaction and acidification reaction to finally prepare a finished product, wherein the purity of the finished product is high, and the yield of the finished product is higher than 92%. Besides, the production process disclosed by the invention adopts simple equipment and is low in production cost.