The municipality of Leusden also includes the following towns, villages and townships: Achterveld, Leusden-Zuid, Stoutenburg.
The western part of the municipalty is partially covered by forest, partially by heath lands. The other parts are used for livestock farming.
Leusden was first mentioned as Villa Lisiduna in a charter in 777. The location of that old village is now called Oud-Leusden. The church tower of Oud-Leusden is one of the oldest towers in the Netherlands, dating from the 11th century.
In the 1970s, the agricultural villages of Leusbroek and Hamersveld expanded to mainly residential towns. Hamersveld was renamed to Leusden-Centrum, (currently just named Leusden), and Leusbroek became Leusden-Zuid. In the original plans Leusden would grow to around 46,000 inhabitants, but after the initial expansion phases, there was growing resistance from the population, and some of the later phases of the expansion have been abandoned.