Formaldehyde serves as a key intermediate in numerous industrial processes, leading to a steadily increasing global demand. Consequently, efficient methods for producing both clean hydrogen and water-free formaldehyde are of growing importance. However, a significant hurdle in catalysis remains the selection of materials that can enhance both stability and catalytic performance. So, in this article, we reported zirconium molybdate material (Z₁U₅ catalyst) as an active, stable, and selective catalyst for the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde. The catalysts were fabricated by hydrothermal method using various ratios of urea. Using TGA, DSC, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, N₂ sorption analysis, and pyridine-TPD, the produced catalysts' structural, morphological, textural, and acidic properties have been analyzed. The catalyst with the highest performance was developed by optimizing several synthesis parameters, including the molar ratio of zirconium to urea, hydrothermal treatment temperature and duration, as well as the annealing temperature. Under the ideal conditions, the catalyst with a Zr:urea ratio of 1:5 (referred to as Z₁U₅) demonstrated the best activity, achieving a 98 % methanol conversion and 95 % selectivity toward formaldehyde at 300 °C. This outstanding catalytic behavior is ascribed to the presence of Brønsted acid sites of both weak and moderate strength on the catalyst surface. Moreover, the Z₁U₅ catalyst exhibited excellent long-term durability, maintaining consistent conversion and selectivity over a continuous 160 h operation.