Methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) has been investigated over ZSM-5 zeolites and compared with that of ${gamma}-Al_2O_3$. Although the catalytic activity was decreased with an increase in silica/alumina ratio, the DME selectivity increased. H-ZSM-5 and NaH-ZSM-5 zeolites were more active for conversion of methanol to DME than ${gamma}-Al_2O_3$. $Na^+$ ion-exchanged H-ZSM-5 (NaH-ZSM-5) shows higher DME selectivity than H-ZSM-5 due to the selective removal of strong acid sites.