The suburb lies between Port Road and Cheltenham Parade, which form its southwest and eastern boundaries respectively.

[10] The plant attracted a lot of people to live in the area and especially in the adjacent suburb of Woodville through the 20th century.

[6] The majority of residents (71.5%) are of Australian birth, with other common census responses being England (5.3%) and India (2.5%).

[6] Cheltenham is part of Woodville Ward in the City of Charles Sturt local government area, being represented in that council by Oanh Nguyen and Robert Grant.

[12] The suburb is represented in the South Australian House of Assembly by Joe Szakacs[5] and federally by Mark Butler.