Bassetlaw is bounded to the south by the Newark and Sherwood and Mansfield districts, to the south-west by the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, to the north-west by the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham and the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, to the north by North Lincolnshire, and to the east by West Lindsey.

The district council is a non-constituent member of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Much of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

The council's main offices are at Queen's Buildings, completed in 1981 on Potter Street in Worksop, adjoining the Town Hall.

[citation needed] Bassetlaw's local newspapers are Worksop Guardian and Retford Times.