The invention relates to a Cu-based high-temperature water gas shift catalyst and a preparation method thereof, belonging to the technical field of water gas shift catalysts. The catalyst disclosed by the invention takes copper oxide as an active component and a zirconium oxide-cerium oxide composite oxide as a carrier, wherein zirconium oxide and cerium oxide exist in the carrier in the form of solid solutions. The catalyst is characterized in that the active ingredient is copper oxide, calculated by metal elements, the content of copper oxide is 10-40% and the optimal content is 15-20%; and the weight ratio of cerium oxide to zirconium oxide is 1: 4-4: 1, and the optimal weight ratio is 2: 1-1: 2. The preparation method of the catalyst is a reverse-titration co-precipitation method. The catalyst has better high-temperature catalytic activity and thermal stability and can overcome the defect of poor thermal stability of a copper-based catalyst. Furthermore, the preparation process is relatively simple and the actual utilization value is very strong.