The municipality consists of three villages Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen, the hamlet Haltikon, the industrial area Fänn, and the alp Seeboden.

Its etymology comes from the German words Küss and Nacht, meaning Kiss and Night respectively.

According to the legend of Wilhelm Tell, the hero shot the Austrian bailiff Gessler at the Hohle Gasse near the Gesslerburg with his crossbow: "Here through this deep defile he needs must pass; there leads no other road to Küssnacht.

The festival, attended by about 20,000 people, consists of a parade of around 1,000 participants, and lasts far into the night.

Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by 44 ha (110 acres) and is now about 2.07% of the total area.

Over the same time period the amount of forested land has increased by 7 ha (17 acres).

It consists of the villages of Küssnacht, Immensee and Merlischachen as well as the hamlets of Haltikon and Seebodenalp.

[6] The historical population is given in the following chart:[13] The Gesslerburg Castle and the Hohle Gasse with the Tell Chapel are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

The village of Küssnacht am Rigi and the hamlet of Merlischachen are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

The 2015 election saw a large change in the voting when compared to 2011 with the percentage received for the FDP increasing from 24.2% to 32.9%.

[9] The municipality has three railway stations: Küssnacht am Rigi, Immensee, and Merlischachen.

[19] In 2015 the average cantonal, municipal and church tax rate in the municipality for a couple with two children making SFr 80,000 was 3% while the rate for a single person making SFr 150,000 was 9%.

[20] From the 2000 census[update], 7,891 or 73.7% are Roman Catholic, while 1,152 or 10.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

[21] In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Küssnacht was 33.6 per thousand residents.