It is the capital of the district of Ried im Innkreis, and it serves as the administrative centre for the Innviertel region.

The name of the city is derived from the Middle High German "Riet" (also: Rieth, Reet, Rohr, and the like), which denotes the reed which grows along the shores of swamps.

Ried consists of a city core, composed of several spatially separated squares (e.g. Hauptplatz, Stelzhamerplatz, Kirchenplatz, Roßmarkt, Marktplatz, and Hoher Markt), as well as a few other quarters.

They are listed in clockwise direction, starting from the South: Neuhofen im Innkreis, Mehrnbach, Aurolzmünster, Tumeltsham and Hohenzell.

Legend has it that in 1191, Dietmar der Anhanger - a miller's son - obtained the market town of Ried as a fiefdom from Frederick I.

After the War of the Bavarian Succession, the Innviertel - including Ried - was ceded to Austria in the Treaty of Teschen 1779.

With the Treaty of Ried, Bavaria changed sides on 8 October 1813 and joined the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon.

Since the local elections in 2015, the seats are distributed among the political parties as follows: Since 1781, Ried has been governed by a mayor and a municipal council.

Since 1997, the mayor has been directly elected by the eligible voters for a term of four years, at the same time as the municipal council.

The coat of arms is divided into four parts: The upper quarter shows the double eagle and signifies the affiliation to Austria.

The lower quarter contains the "Bavarian Wecken" - white-blue rhombuses - and indicates that the town originally belonged to Bavaria.

In the left quarter is the laced boot, which was also on the older coat of arms and refers to the founding legend of the city.

In the industrial sector, Ried is home to the world-famous ski factory, Fischer, FACC (Fischer Advanced Composites Components AG), which builds parts for aeroplanes, Team 7 producing organic furniture, and the company Wintersteiger, a specialist in high-technology plant construction and engineering.

His son, Thomas Schwanthaler, made the high altar and the sculpture of the Group on the Mount of Olives in the town church of Ried.

Several sculptures of the family are preserved in many churches of Upper Austria and in the Innviertler Volkskundehaus (folklore museum).