The invention relates to a preparation method of terbutaline sulfate, which comprises the following steps: dissolving a compound of formula I or formula II into a solvent A, adding a metal catalyst for catalytic hydrogenation, so as to obtain 5-[2-[(1,1-dimethylethyl)amido]-1-ethoxyl]-1,3-resorcinol; after the reaction is finished, filtering, collecting filter liquor, adding a certain amount of concentrated sulfuric acid in the filter liquor, after stirring is stopped, recycling the solvent A, adding a solvent B into a residue, stirring to separate out a white crystal substance, performing suction filtration, thus obtaining the terbutaline sulfate. According to the method provided by the invention, the treating difficulty after the reaction is greatly reduced, the introduction of water and inorganic salt is avoided, and the product content is high; furthermore, the stability of the terbutaline sulfate is obviously improved by distilling the product under acidic conditions, the catalyst and the reaction solvents are recyclable, so that the environmental protection pressure is greatly reduced.