Open land is south of the town and a pine forest covering about 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi) is on the west, between Berdsk and the Ob Sea (the Novosibirsk Reservoir).

The risk of nomad incursions from the south drove the people to demand that the Tomsk regional authorities build a defensive fortress.

The local Gorokhov mill produced several types of flour which were distributed throughout Siberia, Russia and Europe via the Kara Sea.

About half the population lives in small private, one-story houses with cold water, electricity and cable radio; the other half lives in recently-built municipal housing, some of which has cable TV networks and computer LANs.The R256 highway passes through Berdsk, connecting Novosibirsk with Altai Krai, the Altai Republic and Mongolia.

The town's central railway station has a number of local elektrichkas and long-distance trains to Altai Krai and Kazakhstan.

Private river passenger or cargo traffic is negligible, although Berdsk has a pier for sand barges.

The Berdsk Vega Production Association, founded in 1959, manufactures domestic civilian and military radios, tape recorders and CD players.

It and the Berdsk Electromechanical Plant are listed on the Federation of American Scientists' Russian Defense Business Directory.