Cuffley until the early 20th century was effectively just a small collection of farms centred around the village green, next to the local inn. However in 1910 the Great Northern Railway extended the line through Cuffley and built a railway station in the village. This lead to the village starting to grow, as it was now possible to commute into London to work. In the 1930's the village was expanded by the building of a number of estates, with a high proportion of bungalows. Further periods of relatively rapid expansion happened in the 50's and 60's.

Administratively the village lies in the Welwyn Hatfield Borough in Southern Hertfordshire, which also covers the towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield. The village sends a councillor to Hertfordshire County Council. Nationally the village is part of the Broxbourne constituency.

Prior to the 20th century the village is most notable for the visits in the 17th century by King James I of England (King James VI of Scotland), who visited to take the waters at a natural spring in the area. While no trace of this practice remains in the village local roads such as Kingswell Ride and King James Avenue commemorate this time.

During the First World War the first German airship to be shot down over Britain, SL 11 crashed in Cuffley, having bombed St Albans. The crew were buried in nearby Potters Bar. The airship was not a Zeppelin, having been built by one of the Zeppelin companies competitors, but was identified as such by the press. The Last Raid of Zeppelin L-21 the airship that it is usually misidentified as, was actually about this incident and the award of a Victoria Cross to William L Robinson for the incident.

For road transport Cuffley lies just outside of the M25 orbital motorway, between Junction 24 and Junction 25. For rail, the railway station provides services into Moorgate and Kings Cross, service being provided by First Capital Connect. The station has a car park, taxi rank, sheltered bike storage and is staffed on a part time basis.

The village has a school built in 1938 as a replacement for the earlier Victorian Schoolroom, the site of which is now occupied by St Andrews Church itself a 1965 replacement for the earlier Church of England Church. There are two other churches in the village, a Free Church and a Catholic church. In 1939 the Scout Association purchased land in the area and in 1940 Lord Wigram opened Tolmers Scout Camp in the Parish.

The village school caters for primary and nursery children and has approximately 420 students. The school runs a number of clubs and extracurricular activities.

There are a number of activities available in the area, the local football club accepts players across a wide range of levels, fielding 20 teams in all, the rugby club also accepts players of all levels, there is also clay pigeon and game shooting in the area. There are less active pursuits such as amateur dramatic and opera societies.