It is served by nearby Silverdale railway station on the line from Lancaster to Barrow in Furness.

Silverdale is in the UK Parliamentary Constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale, represented since 2024 by Lizzi Collinge (Labour), who defeated the previous incumbent, Conservative David Morris in the 2024 general election.

[7] On Lancaster City Council it is represented by one Liberal Democrat councillor, elected for a four-year term in May 2023.

On Lancashire County Council it forms part of Lancaster Rural North electoral division, and is represented by one Conservative councillor re-elected for a four-year term in May 2021.

The parish includes several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), including: Eaves Wood,[11] Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve,[12] Hawes Water[13] (not to be confused with Haweswater reservoir in Cumbria), Jack Scout,[14] Leighton Moss,[15] Silverdale Golf Course,[16] and Trowbarrow Quarry,[17] and the whole of Morecambe Bay is also an SSSI.

The parish church[19] and Slackwood Farmhouse[20] are grade II* listed, while Lindeth Tower, the Silverdale Hotel, the lime kiln in Bottom's Lane, the chimney or tower at Jenny Brown's Point, twelve houses (four with barns) and two sets of entrance piers are grade II listed.

The ONS also identifies "Silverdale built-up area", covering the core of the village but not extending east of Bottoms Lane or south of Lindeth Tower, which has a 2011 population of 1,326, an area of 1.015 square kilometres (0.392 sq mi) and a density of 1,310 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,400/sq mi).

[1][24] The Gaskell Memorial Hall in the centre of the village hosts a wide range of activities and events.

[26][27] The Silverdale Village Institute is a registered charity and provides a building and playing field for public use.

[29] The well-attended 2014 AGM saw a silent demonstration by the village's children in support of a skate park, and a major change in committee membership.

[30] The annual Silverdale and Arnside Art and Craft Trail, when local and visiting artists display their works in many venues in the two villages, takes place each summer.

[31] In February 2012 The Royal Hotel, a public house in a prominent location in the centre of Silverdale, became the subject of a dispute when its new owner announced his intention to use the pub and its gardens as the basis for a residential development.

25 holidaymakers from the industrial towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire drowned, the largest loss of lives in a single incident in Morecambe Bay.

Its patrons include Matthew Lewis, the Leeds-born actor best known as Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films.