Characterizing the rf-to-laser jitter in the photocathode rf gun and its possible origins is important for improving the synchronization and beam quality of the linac based on the photocathode rf gun. A new method based on the rf compression effect in the photocathode rf gun is proposed to measure the rf-to-laser jitter in the gun. By taking advantage of the correlation between the rf compression and the laser injection phase, the error caused by the jitter of the accelerating field in the gun is minimized and thus $10 \mathrm{fs}$ time resolution is expected. Experimental demonstration at the Tsinghua Thomson scattering x-ray source with a time resolution better than 35 fs is reported in this paper. The experimental results are successfully used to obtain information on the possible cause of the jitter and the accompanying drifts.