The town was named after the estate "Wellesley" of local benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell.

It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick.

[2] Wellesley is home to the headquarters of many local, national and global businesses including Benchmark Senior Living, Blank Label Apparel, Eagle Investment Systems, EPG Incorporated, GrandBanks Capital, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Livingston and Haynes PC, and Sun Life Financial U.S.

According to Wellesley's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[20] the top employers in the city are: The town designated Cottage Street and its nearby alleys as the historic district in its zoning plan.

Most houses in this district were built around the 1860s and qualify as protected buildings certified by the town's historic commission.

[23] The entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square"—a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Bros. supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local shops.

[28] Since Proposition 2½ limited property tax increases to 2.5% per year in 1980, the town has had to ask residents for a number of overrides to maintain funding for certain programs.

The committee is responsible for Wellesley's adoption of the Massachusetts Stretch Building Code approved by Town Meeting effective January 2012.

Dozens of like-minded organizations are represented including the Natural Resources Commission, a five-member elected board of town residents; Wellesley Conservation Council, a private, non-profit, land trust and conservation education organization incorporated in 1958; and Sustainable Wellesley, a group of volunteers who encourage sustainability in Wellesley and the surrounding area through events, education, and action.

This bylaw requires a minimum of 50% of the property be preserved as open space in exchange for reduced lot sizes without increasing density.

The commission maintains Wellesley's two Community Gardens and maintains a trail network that includes 26 miles of marked trails interconnecting open spaces and conservation lands for walking, dog walking, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing, and more.

In 2003 the commission created the Preservation Master Plan for Fuller Brook Park in collaboration with Wellesley's Department of Public Works.

In 2009, the commission launched the Green Wellesley Campaign advocating for sustainability by raising awareness and promoting increased environmental action.

That campaign has been renamed the Grow Green Wellesley initiative, which promotes earth-friendly lawn and landscaping practices.

On the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, the district regularly scores higher than the state average.

The No Idling Campaign received an Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award from the state of Massachusetts in 2014.

The town's new high school opened in February 2012 and includes such elements as green vegetated roof, geothermal heat pump and Solar thermal cooling, Solar Photovoltaic system, and rainwater recovery systems.

[35] Wellesley's Council on Aging contracts out a daily low-cost minibus service offering elderly access to several local medical facilities and the Woodland MBTA station.

In 2012, Wellesley was designated a Green Power Community by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.