Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 13,990 people.

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections.

As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Ballochmyle was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards.

Ballochmyle runs across the council area from its border with South Ayrshire to the easternmost part of the council area between its borders with South Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway and takes in the towns of Mauchline, Catrine, Auchinleck, Sorn and Muirkirk.

[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's northwestern boundary was extended north and west to run along the A77.