It is located at the intersections of routes 4, 41, 36, and 38, making the city easy to reach, lying at the crossroads to Sub-Carpathia and Transylvania.

The first written mentions of Nyíregyháza date back to 1209, although it was then called simply Nyír ('birch'), after the Nyírség, the greater region in which the city lies.

In 1786, Nyíregyháza was granted the right to hold four market days a year; by this time the town was the biggest in the county, with 7,500 inhabitants.

In the early 19th century, Nyíregyháza was wealthy enough to secure freedom from its feudal lords, the Dessewffy and Károlyi families.

Several buildings were destroyed, too, including the Status Quo Synagogue, whose front wall was preserved and is now displayed in Nyíregyháza's Jewish Cemetery.

Today, Nyíregyháza is one of the most prosperous cities in Hungary, serving as both a center of education and a popular tourist destination.

In the early 2000s, the largest employers were Hübner Flextronics Ltd. and Hirsch's, but during the period of economic recession, many companies eliminated several thousand jobs.

And the narrow city center is bordered by the "small boulevard", the northern, eastern and southern parts of which have already been completed.

The missing parts of the ring road are Highway 338 (already authorized, but with an unknown construction date) in the west and the northern sector.

Nyíregyháza is the final stop of the Ohat-Pusztakócs-Nyíregyháza railway line, which provides passenger traffic to Tiszalök.

The local Municipal Assembly, elected in the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 22 members (1 mayor, 15 individual constituency MEPs and 6 compensation List MEPs) divided into the following political parties and alliances:[9] The city is home to Hübner Nyíregyháza BS, a First division basketball team that plays its home games at the Continental Arena.

[10] Football club Nyíregyháza Spartacus play in the country's top tier (in 2024-25) and their stadium is the Városi Stadion.

The Volán Sporttelep (Entrance on Czuczor Gergely utca) is an association football venue[11] and former motorcycle speedway track.