Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village is on an incline facing north-east, the Parish Church, is vertically in the middle.

The area around the Parish Church is known as "Top o' t'Town" and the area around the Junction public house is known as "Bottom o' t'Town", this reflects the days when Rastrick had its own governance in the form of a Town Board whose Offices and lock-up were situated halfway between the two, on Ogden Lane.

Rastrick is a village and a ward of Calderdale, a metropolitan borough within the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire in England.

[6] On 1 April 1938 Brighouse borough was transferred to the neighbouring registration district of 'Calder' and in 1974 it was abolished as part of the creation of Calderdale.

The traditional north western boundary between Elland and Rastrick was the edge of the escarpment, but the Elland Ward boundary is further east, encompassing parts of the old parish of Rastrick as far as Dewsbury Road and the crossroads with New Hey Road.

The highest point in the village is Round Hill which is adjacent to the grounds of Rastrick Cricket Club.

An extensive bus service is provided by several operators, including First West Yorkshire, Team Pennine and South Pennine Community Transport, under the guidance of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (brand name Metro).

The Church of St John the Divine is located off Gooder Lane close to Brighouse railway station and was designed by Nicholson and Corlette in 1913.

[14] Rastrick was the birthplace of religious writer Margaret Barber who wrote under the pseudonym Michael Fairless, and of the eccentric inventor Wilf Lunn.

[citation needed] Acclaimed travel writer, photographer, and adventure motorcyclist Christopher Paul Baker attended Rastrick Grammar School (1966–73).

[citation needed] 1997 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, John Ernest Walker (born 1941), also attended Rastrick Grammar School (1952–59).