Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke.

Prior to the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, the area that now forms South Gloucestershire formed part of the shire county of Gloucestershire, comprising the urban districts of Kingswood and Mangotsfield and the Rural Districts of Warmley, Sodbury and Thornbury.

However, under the terms of that act, the area was removed from Gloucestershire, and became part of the county of Avon, forming the districts of Kingswood and Northavon.

In 1996, the county of Avon was abolished, and South Gloucestershire was created as a unitary authority area comprising the former districts of Kingswood and Northavon.

Other key employers include Airbus, Rolls-Royce and the Royal Mail, which dominates the Filton-Patchway area of South Gloucestershire.

In 2008, DCSF figures revealed that there was a 6.6% overall absence in the district's secondary schools, whilst 7.4% is the national average.

The Cotswolds Escarpment forms the eastern edge of South Gloucestershire, while the western half is mainly urbanised.

The Metrobus express bus network extends from Bristol into South Gloucestershire, and is supported by the district council.

This includes eastward to London and westward through the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff and the rest of South Wales.

In 2012, it became one of the first authorities in the UK to return to a Committee System, abolishing the single party Cabinet, as allowed under the Localism Act.