Burnside is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) to the southwest of the city centre, close to eastern end of the much larger suburb, Green Island.

Other suburbs located nearby include Concord, immediately to the southeast and Kenmure further up Kaikorai Valley.

Burnside is separated from the central urban area of Dunedin by the large ridge which surrounds the city's heart.

Kempthorne Prosser's Burnside Chemical Works that made fertilisers from Sulphuric acid opened in 1881 and were the first of its kind in the colony.

This large complex has its origin in a plant opened in 1881,[4] and an abattoir continued to operate at this site until 2008.

[8] Among other industries in the area are numerous small manufacturing plants and wholesalers, and several car sales yards, all in lower Kaikorai Valley Road.

The South Island Main Trunk railway passes through Burnside (though there are no longer passenger stations in the suburb) entering a tunnel which runs beneath Lookout Point, emerging in Caversham, New Zealand.