Objective To explore the application value of ultrasound and MRI in staging of cervical cancer. Methods The preoperative transvaginal ultrasound and MRI data of 61 patients with cervical cancer confirmed by surgery and pathology were analyzed retrospectively. The imaging findings were analyzed, and the accuracy rates in the diagnosis of cervical cancer and preoperative staging were compared between the two imaging diagnostic methods. Results 61 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed by clinical and pathological examination. The accuracy rates of preoperative ultrasound in the diagnosis of cervical cancer and clinical stage (60.66%, 50.82%) were significantly lower than those of MRI (93.44%, 85.25%) (P<0.05). Ultrasound of 37 cases showed abnormalities, irregular enlargement of uterine body, abnormal shape of uterine neck and inhomogeneous changes of echo. The tumors presented substantial low echo, and blood flow signals were richer than those in normal tissues. The cervical mucosa line was bent and interrupt or disappeared. There were 9 cases of lymph node enlargement, 11 cases of invasion of the vagina, 7 cases of invasion of the uterine and 1 cases of invasion of the bladder. MRI images of 57 cases were abnormal, showing equal signal or low signal on T1WI and high signal on T2WI, T2WI high signal on STIR sequence, higher than that of plain scan T2WI. After enhanced scan, there were different degrees of enhancement. There were 14 cases with lymph node enlargement, 15 cases with invasion of the vagina, 10 cases with invasion of the uterine, 2 cases with invasion of the bladder and 1 case with invasion of the rectum. Conclusion The accuracy of MRI in the diagnosis of cervical cancer and its staging is higher than that of ultrasound, which can provide objective information for clinical diagnosis and treatment.