Dum Dum anchors one end of India's first underground metro line, which originally ran between Dum Dum and Tollygunge. Today the Dum Dum, Dum Dum Cantonment and Jessore Road stations serve the area, and the newer Jai Hind station puts the airport a stop away.

Dum Dum Junction and Dum Dum Cantonment railway stations connect to the Sealdah-Ranaghat and Sealdah-Bangaon suburban lines. National Highway 12, locally called Jessore Road, runs straight through, and buses, autos and taxis radiate out from the Nagerbazar hub.

Dum Dum has a deep bench of established schools, several dating to the colonial and early post-independence era: Christ Church Girls' High School (1882), Dum Dum Baidyanath Institution (1939), Dum Dum Girls' High School (1950) and Auxilium Convent School (1960) among them. Sarojini Naidu College for Women, founded in 1956, offers honours courses across the sciences and humanities.

Kendriya Vidyalaya Ordnance Factory Dum Dum serves families linked to the defence and central government offices in the area.

Dum Dum's industrial identity goes back to the Ordnance Factory Dum Dum, a defence manufacturing unit dating to 1846 that still runs precision machining and CNC operations. Jessop & Co, one of India's oldest engineering firms, relocated its works here from Howrah in 1928.

The Saregama recording studio, running since 1928 as successor to the Gramophone Company of India, holds decades of master recordings and continues to operate from its Dum Dum complex.

Everyday recreation in Dum Dum centres on its markets and retail hubs rather than large entertainment venues - Diamond Plaza Mall, Nagerbazar market, Gorabazar market and the Mall Road market are the area's main shopping and gathering spots.

Public libraries and community halls in the municipal area host local cultural and social activities.

Dum Dum Municipality, established in 1929 out of the former cantonment board, governs the area and falls under the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority's planning umbrella. The municipal area has primary health facilities including Dum Dum Municipal Specialised Hospital, along with bank branches, community halls and public libraries serving residents.

Civic infrastructure in the older core still includes open drains rather than a fully covered stormwater network.