Based on panel data of 285 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2020, this paper uses a set of regional economic analysis tools to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban industrial pollution and its drivers. The results of the research show that the Urban Industrial Pollution Index (UIPI) has shown a significant downward trend overall. However, high levels of industrial pollution are found in the areas where the four major industrial bases are located. The overall development gap of the UIPI shows a fluctuating upward trend. In terms of the contribution of development differences, supervisory density is the highest, followed by intra-regional differences, and inter-regional differences are the lowest. The UIPI has a strong spatial dependence, with a concentration in Henan Province. It is spatially distributed in a “northeast-southwest” direction, with a tendency of diffusion and transfer to surrounding cities. Urban industrial pollution is significantly suppressed by human capital, capital stock, technological innovation and economic agglomeration. Human capital and economic agglomeration can suppress industrial pollution in surrounding cities through spatial spillovers. In addition, a number of influencing factors have a heterogeneous impact on urban industrial pollution across regions.