The district consists of four tehsils: Khushab, Noorpur Thal, Quaidabad and Naushera.

[5] Khushab is home to the Heavy Water and Natural Uranium Research Reactor,[6] part of Pakistan's Special Weapons Program.

[9] In the Ain-i-Akbari, written during the reign of Akbar in c. 1590, Khushab was enumerated as one of the parganas in the Sind Sagar sarkar of the Mughal province of Panjab.

[10] After the decline of Mughal Empire in the 18th century, Khushab came under the control of Tiwana clan.

Khushab was annexed by Ranjit Singh in 1817, but the area was later restored to Fateh Khan Tiwana as jagir in return for military services.

Parts of the Thal desert touch the district, which has a breadth of over 70 miles (110 km) and is situated between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.

Kanhatti Garden is the largest forest in Khushab district, near Khabbaki village in the Soon Valley.

Sakesar is the highest mountain in the Salt Range,[12] and is the site of the ancient Amb Temples.

In the local bodies delimitation of 2000 (before the creation of the Tehsil Quaidabad and Naushehra), it contained a total of fifty-one Union Councils.

[24] In the 2015 delimitation of District Khushab, 48 rural union councils and 7 urban Municipal Committees were created by the election Commission of Pakistan.