Dust deposition widely occurs in arid to semiarid areas. Since dust particles are fine-sized, they have a high adsorption potential and; therefore, can easily carry the contaminants. Heavy metals could be distributed in large scales by connecting to airborne dust. Kerman is one of the Iranian industrial cities where a lot of factories and mines are active. The objectives of this research were to study the temporal and spatial distribution of atmospheric dust deposition rate, heavy metals concentration, magnetic susceptibility, chemical properties, particle size distribution and clay mineralogy of dust in Kerman and to identify its likely source(s). Dust samples were taken monthly for a period of 7 months from 35 locations distributed over the city of Kerman from April 20 to November 20, 2012 (a total of 245 samples) using glass traps installed on the roof of one-story buildings. To compare the results of atmospheric dust with those of soil, 60 surface soil samples (0-10 cm) from outside Kerman and 35 soil samples from urban areas were also collected. The dust deposition rate (DDR) was calculated as g/km 2 .month. Also, the magnetic susceptibility of dust and soil samples was determined using a MS2B sensor. The total concentration of Mn, Pb, Ni, Cu and Zn was determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer following the sample extraction with 6N HNO 3 . The particle size distribution of samples was determined using a centrifuge and a 270-mesh size sieve. The pH and EC of the samples were measured in 2:1 water to dust extract. Clay mineralogy of selected dust samples was studied by an X-ray diffractometer. The results showed that the average rate of dust deposition decreased during the months of May to November from 17.4 to 5 g/m 2 .month, which could be attributed to the decrease in average wind speed. The spatial distribution of the samples also showed that the dust deposition rate varied from 4.84 in the southern parts to 14.84 g/m 2 .month, mostly in the northern ones. The results also indicated that due to the various sources of urban pollutants such as traort and construction, the total concentration of heavy metals in urban soils was much higher than that of the suburban soils. Furthermore, the concentration of heavy metals in dust was very much higher than that of the soils studied. The results also showed that there was a significant correlation among Cu, Pb, and Zn and also Mn, and Ni concentrations suggesting two different sources for heavy metals. Determining the sources of dust using the principle component analysis also further corroborated that Cu, Zn and Pb mostly derive from human activities while Mn and Ni appear to mainly come from natural sources. Spatial distribution of heavy metals in dust showed that their concentrations were higher in the western half of Kerman indicating an important role of Kerman’s topography. The average heavy metals pollution index in the studied samples is equal to 2.98 and indicates that 65.71% and 34.28% of the dust samples are moderately and heavily polluted, respectively. The highest difference in dust magnetic susceptibility was found for the months of July and November. This may be due to the variety of magnetic materials input to the dust. The results also indicated that the human activities have greatly enhanced the magnetic susceptibility of urban soils. Dust chemical properties showed that alkaline and saline soils surrounding the city of Kerman (local origin) very much contribute to the urban dust in the area. Dust particle size distribution analysis further confirmed its local origin. In conclusion, the results of this investigation clearly show a high rate of moderately to heavily polluted dust deposition in the urban area of Kerman. Attention should be paid to reduce the rate of dust deposition and to control the load of contaminants such as heavy metals in dust.