Though administered as part of Cambridgeshire, the village historically belonged to Bedfordshire, being situated 12 miles (19 km) north of Bedford.

A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields.

For Tilbrook the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge.

[9] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions.

[10] Tilbrook is part of the electoral division of Brampton and Kimbolton[8] and is represented on the county council by one councillor.

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Tilbrook was recorded every ten years by the UK census.