A powertrain control method for a vehicle may include: setting, by a controller, a Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH) characteristic map based on an engine operating point to be used for a control of a powertrain based on a gradient of a road on which the vehicle is running; determining, by the controller, whether the vehicle is shifting; and selecting and performing, by the controller, at least one of a release of a lock-up state of a damper clutch or an additional rise of an engine torque based on whether a current engine operating point belongs to any level among a plurality of NVH levels classified in the NVH characteristic map when the vehicle is not shifting.