Nestled in the Blindman River valley of central Alberta, Rimbey sits at the crossroads of Highway 20 and Highway 53, roughly 62 kilometres northwest of Red Deer and about 145 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. Provincially, the town falls within the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre electoral district, while federally it is part of the Ponoka-Didsbury riding. The surrounding area is predominantly agricultural land, with the oil and gas sector playing an increasingly important role in the local economy. For day-to-day needs, residents have access to hotels, motels, grocery stores, convenience and liquor stores, a campground, a hospital with ambulance services, and a local detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with more specialized medical care referred to Red Deer, Calgary, or Edmonton.
The community traces its origins to around 1902, when it was first known as Kansas Ridge, a name reflecting the American roots of many early settlers who had come from the state of Kansas. Among those settlers were three brothers – Sam, Ben, and Jim Rimbey – whose family had originally come from Maryland, later settled in Scott County, Illinois, and were born in Pennsylvania. The town was officially renamed in their honour in 1904. A significant turning point came in 1919, when the Lacombe and Blindman Valley Electric Railway – later absorbed into the Canadian Pacific Railway – arrived, spurring construction of grain elevators and pushing the population to 319 by 1921. The post-Second World War period brought further growth, with the population reaching 634 by 1946 as new residents arrived and some returning veterans settled in the area. By the 2021 federal census, Rimbey had a population of 2,470 people living in 1,084 occupied dwellings across a land area of 11.38 square kilometres, representing a modest decline of 3.8 percent from the 2,567 residents recorded in 2016. That 2016 figure itself reflected strong growth from 2,378 in 2011. The town’s population density in 2021 stood at approximately 217 people per square kilometre. Visitors to Rimbey can explore Pas-Ka-Poo Park, which features open lawns, a historical village site, and museums, including the Smithson International Truck Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of International Trucks. The town also has a junior olympic swimming pool, rebuilt to approximately 3,900 square feet and open seasonally from May through September each year.