It has around 25,000 inhabitants, of whom about 6,000 live in the main town of Horb, and the remainder in 18 associated villages and districts which form part of the same municipality.

These are Ahldorf, Altheim, Betra, Bildechingen, Bittelbronn, Dettensee, Dettingen, Dettlingen, Dießen, Grünmettstetten, Ihlingen, Isenburg, Mühlen, Mühringen, Nordstetten, Rexingen and Talheim, the last of which is made up of the formerly independent communities of Obertalheim and Untertalheim.

There are also other districts with distinct names, such as Hohenberg and Haugenstein, but no formally recognised boundaries, and numerous isolated hamlets with handfuls of inhabitants, such as Fronholzhof, Frundeckhof, Heidgrundhof, Hohenfichtehof, Markstallhof, Auchtert-Höfe, Breitenbaum-Höfe, Josefshof, Käppleshof, Kegelhof, Isenburger Höfe, Buchhöfe, Kreuzhöfe, Plattenhöfe, Ziegelhof, Heidehöfe, Kapellenhöfe, and Röteberg, not to mention even smaller settlements such as Neckarhausen or Priorberg.

The swampy land along the Neckar forced the builders of the town to lay it out among the foothills of the mountain called Schütteberg.

Today the townscape is characterised by the location of the whole historic city on top of a hill, making it visible from any direction.

The districts of both Horb and Hechingen were dissolved as part of Baden-Württemberg's 1973 local government reforms, and the majority of Horb's territory, including the city itself, was transferred to Freudenstadt, itself now part of the newly created Northern Black Forest Region in the recently expanded Regierungsbezirk of Karlsruhe.

In the Middle Ages, Horb am Neckar was part of the Diocese of Constance, under the local supervision of the Archdiaconate "Vor dem Walde", based in Dornstetten.

Upon its transfer to the Kingdom of Württemberg, the territory was assigned to the Diocese of Rottenburg (today, Rottenburg-Stuttgart) and made the seat of a deanery.

Parishes in Betra, Dettensee, Dettingen, Dettlingen and Dießen have actually belonged to the Archdiocese of Freiburg (Deanery of Zollern) since 1827, due to those communities' former inclusion in the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

In the 13th century, the counts palatine of Tübingen established Horb as a town, incorporating the existing settlement along the Neckar.

Tourism plays a major role in the economy of Horb am Neckar, with numerous local projects and organizations in place to promote the town's various cultural events and attractions, which typically include concerts, Kabaretts, and theatrical performances.

The annual Renaissance fair "Maximilian-Ritterspiele" ("Maximilian jousting"), taking place in the middle of June draws crowds from all over the region, and Horb's "Mini Rock Festival" hosts several thousand attendees each year and features musical acts from all over the world.

The local governing body is a town council (Gemeinderat) consisting of 32 members, with elections held every five years.