[1] Tebing Tinggi is an enclave within Serdang Bedagai Regency, which surrounds it on all sides, and contains a kecamatan (district) bordering the city which is also named Tebing Tinggi.

According to the Agency for Information and Communication Data North Sumatra, Tebing Tinggi is one of the 8 independent cities (formerly called municipalities) in North Sumatra, located around 80 km from Medan (the capital of North Sumatra Province) and situated at a crossroads of the Trans-Sumatran Highway, connecting the East Coast Highway; Tanjungbalai, Rantau Prapat and Central Sumatra Highway; Pematangsiantar, Parapat, and Balige.

[1] The table also includes the number of administrative villages in each district (all classed as urban kelurahan), and its post code.

The residents of Tebing Tinggi are Malays (70%), Batak (11%) and Chinese (8%).

Tebing Tinggi has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.