The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4,692 at the 2011 census.

[1] Within the boundaries of the historic county of Buckinghamshire, in 1974 it came under the administration of Berkshire following the Local Government Act 1972;[3] since 1998 it has been part of the unitary authority of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The name derives from Old English Ēa-tūn, meaning "River-Town", a reference to Eton's proximity to the River Thames.

[5] During the English Civil War, after Windsor Castle was captured by Parliamentarian forces, the Royalist army moved into Eton and attempted to retake the town, occupying the college.

[9] The college sometimes leased small plots of land to the village as an act of charity, leading to the construction of houses near the bridge.

[5] Eton was favourably modernised and was the first village in the UK to have its own post office and modern drainage system.

At the district level, the town is part of the Eton and Castle electoral ward of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Nationally, since 1997 the ward has formed part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor and is currently represented by Jack Rankin of the Conservative Party.

Between 1983 and 1997, the town was part of the UK Parliamentary constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead, which was held by the Conservative Party throughout that period.