Rio Vista, incorporated in 1893, is in Solano County, the fastest growing of the nine Bay Area Counties, and is the fifth fastest growing city in the State of California. Many people came to farm the open land of Rio Vista. The land once believed to be agriculturally poor proved to be rich. Natural gas was found in abundance at a depth of 4,000 feet. The Rio Vista Gas Field is the largest dry gas reserve in California. The town is almost on top of it.
Rio Vista is located in Solano County southwest of Sacramento between Fairfield and Lodi along Highway 12 on the banks of the Sacramento River near Stockton and Suisun Bay.
Rio Vista is part of the Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, California metro area.