The town has a commercial district and a golf course, including a large parkland, Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve.

The Moss Vale area was once occupied by the Gandangara people, though they had disappeared by the 1870s, partly due to the loss of their hunting land to European settlers.

[4] The railway and the Robertson Land Acts encouraged denser settlement by selectors in the Southern Highlands and led to the growth of Moss Vale as a town.

Moss Vale has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with warm to mild, rainy summers and cool sunny winters.

Despite Moss Vale's prowess as an industrial centre, nearby Bowral is the commercial heart of the Southern Highlands.

Agricultural rural holdings in the area specialise in dairy herds, mainly Holstein Frisian, and there is an assortment of beef studs and sheep properties.

Moss Vale has a New South Wales Rural Fire Service Brigade which is located at 49 Berrima Road.

The line provides regular services from Moss Vale to southern Sydney, where a change of trains is generally required to access the city centre.