Heavy metal elements released during industrial transportation have an impact on the vegetation community and soil properties of the desert steppe. The study of vegetation and soil could provide a scientific basis for the restoration and reconstruction of desert steppe vegetation under the influence of industrial activity area. The desert steppe around the Gaoshawo Industrial Concentration Zone in Yanchi County, Ningxia was selected as the experiment plot. Based on the accumulated heavy metal contents in soil and dust in the early stage, five pollution gradients (gradient I, gradient II, gradient III, gradient IV and gradient V) were divided according to the Nemerow pollution index. The relationship between vegetation community characteristics and soil properties under different pollution gradients was compared and analyzed by means of field investigation and indoor analysis. The results showed that the species composition was relatively abundant in the first three pollution gradients, and Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae, Leguminosae and Compositae were the dominant families. Among them, Lespedeza potaninii and Stipa breviflora were the main species under the influence of industrial production and transportation in the study area, whose important values were 59.41 and 44.26, respectively. Moreover, with the increase of pollution gradient, the evenness index of plant community decreased significantly (P<0.05), manifested by single vegetation composition and unstable community structures due to industrial transportation activities. The surface soil nutrients fluctuated greatly under the influence of heavy metals, and total soil nitrogen and organic matter with heavy metals were the main soil factors affecting the species diversity index, which decreased significantly with the increase of the pollution gradient (P<0.05). Thus, it suggests that the industrial transportation activities in the Gaoshawo Industrial Zone significantly affect the desert steppe plant diversity and topsoil properties.