The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pede), Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle.

Even though Dilbeek is located in the Dutch language area of Belgium, there is a French-speaking minority represented by 3 members on the 35-seat local council.

This territory, ruled by the Lords of Aa in Anderlecht, was integrated into the Landgraviate of Brabant by the counts of Leuven around 1085.

Around 1183, the landgraviate became the Duchy of Brabant, within which Dilbeek remained as an independent parish until the French Revolution.

The following decades were marked by the wars that opposed Catholics and Protestants, which resulted in the ruin of the Abbey of Groot-Bijgaarden.