Rishton is located in the centre of Lancashire, England. A small town which is only 2 miles away from Blackburn to the West, 8 miles from Burnley in the East, and 2 miles from Accrington in the South.

It is served by the M65 motorway where junctions 7 and 6 are but 2 minutes away in either direction. It now lies on the main Blackburn to Padiham road, the A678. The only other major route out of the town being the B6535 to Great Harwood.

The canal system still runs through Rishton, linking Leeds with Liverpool, and is now used mainly for pleasure cruises.

The railway, and its station are located on the South side of the town, the next station to the East is Blackburn, and to the West Church and Oswaldtwistle. The line is part of the East Lancashire railway network, again linking Lancashire with major cities in Yorkshire.

The urban district of Rishton consists of 2,760 acres of land, the town itself having grown from a small agricultural village with a population of 800 in 1851, to a small industrial town with a population of almost 9,000 at the present time (2002).