[1] The municipality includes the villages of Jamaica, Liberación, Tapaste, Pedro Pi, El Perú, Valle del Perú, Morales, Ganuza, Zaragoza, Nazareno, Comunidad Nazareno, El Volcán, La Ruda, Managuaco and San Antonio de las Vegas.

[1] In the municipality there are 7 consejos populares ("popular councils") which include the main town of San José de las Lajas split into Sur ("south") and Norte ("north") and San Antonio de las Vegas, Nazareno, Jamaica, Tapaste, and Zaragoza.

This municipality hosts the Agrarian University of Havana as well as important country level scientific institutions of the agricultural sciences: CENSA (National Center of Animal Healthcare), ICA (Institute of Animal Science) and INCA (National Institute of Agricultural Sciences), forming together the core of the so named "Havana East Scientific Pole" San José counts a railway station, on the Havana-Güines line, served by a line of the Havana Suburban Railway.

It is crossed in the middle by the Carretera Central (CC) highway and is served by 2 exits of the A1 motorway.

The southwestern area of the municipality, nearby San Antonio de las Vegas, is served by the A3 motorway.