Stip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796. Štip is the largest textile production center in the country; the center of the fashion industry in Macedonia, as well as the location of the only public university in Eastern Macedonia, Goce Delčev University of Štip. The city of Štip is the seat of Štip Municipality. The first known opera performance in Republic of Macedonia was staged in Štip in 1925.

The city is located at the intersection of the Lakavica, Ovče Pole, and Kočani valleys. Two rivers pass through Štip, the Bregalnica which is the second largest in the Republic of Macedonia, and the Otinja which bisects the city center. The hill Isar, with its early medieval fortress on top, dominates the city and provides for the common reference as "The city under the Isar'. The area surrounding the city is suffering from deforestation which is contributing to the temperature extremes, summers being hot and dry with mean temperatures around 32 °C (90 °F) and days above 40 °C (104 °F) being common. Winters are short (less than 2 months usually) and mild (though considered cold for the area) with normals around −2 °C (28.4 °F), but with occasional drops down to −10 °C (14.0 °F). Spring usually comes in February, when most of the foliage is regenerating, although freak snow storms could appear as late as May.

Today, Štip is the center of the country’s textile and fashion industry. Formerly the home of such industrial giants in Former Yugoslavia like the Cotton Industry "Makedonka" - Štip, with its enormous suburban campus, and the Fashion Industry "Astibo". From their ashes many private mini-factories were created, mostly by former managers in the socialist giants, which employ most of the women in town today, fashion and textile still being the core skills of the city population, as maintained by the educational system. Some of the larger private textile and fashion houses in Štip are: Albatros, Beas-S, Kit–Go Teks, Gracija, Modena, Mavis, Maksima, LARS, Briteks, Stipko, Stip-teks, Longurov, Vivendi, D&A, Amareta, Anateks, Angroteks, EAM, Milano, Vabo, Zogori, Metro Premier, Tekstil Invest-Denim, Tekstil Logistik and Eskada.

The current mayor of Štip is Zoranco Aleksov. Mr. Alexov holds the title of Doctor of Information Sciences of Southwest University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. He is a former Director of the "Central Register of Republic of Macedonia", in charge of registering new private enterprises.

The city is ruled by the "City Council" which is elected every four years. The counselors are usually members of the strongest political parties. Every City Council elects President. The President of the City Council leads the sessions and also signs the decisions together with city mayor.

The public transport is organized in suburban services and inter-city. The suburbs of Babi, Senjak, Prebeg, Makedonka, Kezhovica, etc. are served by a fleet of municipal buses running 7 days a week and connecting several locations in the city center with the suburbs. The inter-city services are provided by the public transportation company "Balkan Ekspres" which has connections to all cities in Republic of Macedonia as well as some neighboring countries. The train station located in the northern suburb "Zheleznichka" provides links to Kočani in the east, and Veles and Skopje to the west. There is a large fleet of private taxi vehicles in the city, with very competitive prices.