Richfield is an inner-ring suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. It is bordered by Minneapolis to the north and has its headquarters of Best Buy, the U.S.'s largest electronics retailer, in the city. Richfield is also adjacent to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to the east, Bloomington to the south, and Edina to the west.

In the early days, Richfield extended as far north as Lake Street and included present day Edina on the west, and extended to the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers on the east, and to Bloomington on the south*. On May 11, 1858, as Congress was admitting Minnesota into the Union, the early residents of Richfield held their first town meeting.

Richfield has public schools, private schools, alternative education programs, and post-secondary options. The local school district, Richfield Public Schools (officially Independent School District #280), serves about 4,200 students in Richfield and part of Edina in grades K-12.