The city covers an area of 34.6 square kilometres (13.4 sq mi) and had a population of 69,283 as at the 2021 Census.

In the 1890s, Bayswater was a small settlement, awkwardly straddling the boundaries of the Perth and Swan Road Districts.

The Bayswater Road Board was gazetted on 5 March 1897, becoming one of several new local government areas established in the 1890s along the railway.

[3][4] Around this same time, it relocated its administration from Bayswater to its present location on Broun Avenue in Morley.

The city also owns The RISE, Bayswater Waves, Maylands Waterland and Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

Political parties do not typically endorse candidates in local government in Western Australia.

[8] The suburbs of the City of Bayswater with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:[12][13] As of 2024[update], 401 places are heritage-listed in the City of Bayswater,[22] of which 24 are on the State Register of Heritage Places, among them Tranby House, the Albany Bell Castle and the Garratt Road Bridge.