Kōriyama originated as a regional governmental center in the Nara period, when the area was on the frontier of Yamato settlement of the Tohoku region. The surrounding area developed into shōen controlled by various samurai clans in the Heian and Kamakura periods. Nearby centers, such as Nihonmatsu developed into castle towns, Kōriyama remained as a commercial center and thrived as a post town because of its importance as a traffic focal point into the Edo period. As a major military equipment production center, Koriyama was subject to three large-scale air raids during WW2.

Kōriyama city is called the "commercial capital in Fukushima".

Koriyama is the largest city in Fukushima Prefecture and has good rail, road and bus networks linking it to Tokyo in the south and other parts of Tohoku to the north and west.

The Tohoku Shinkansen is the fastest way to get to and from Tokyo (80 minutes, ¥7970), as well as other major cities in Tohoku, such as Fukushima and Sendai (40 minutes, ¥5240).

The Tohoku Main Line follows a similar route to the Shinkansen, and though cheaper, it is much slower and trains run far less regularly.

The West Ban'etsu Line connects Koriyama with Niigata in the west, travelling via the Mount Bandai region.

There are also buses linking Koriyama with Tokyo and Narita Airport.

Koriyama is situated on the Tohoku Expressway, with interchanges at Koriyama and Koriyama Minami.

The nearest airport, Fukushima Airport, is in Sukagawa city, about 20km to the south. Fukushima Airport has daily flights to Okinawa, Osaka and Sapporo, with less frequent international flights to Seoul and Shanghai.

• 37.472754140.3339831 Ryokusuien Garden (緑水苑), ☏ +81 24-959-6764. (updated Mar 2019)
• 37.390356140.3503782 Asaka History Museum (安積歴史博物館). Closed from October 2023 to March 2027 to repair damages by earthquakes.. (updated Mar 2019)
• 37.392659140.4198453 Koriyama City Museum of Art (郡山市立美術館). (updated Mar 2019)

There are many department stores and shops in front of Kōriyama Station.

Kourakuen (幸楽苑), a large chain of cheap ramen shops, is based in the city.

• Aizu-Wakamatsu
• Inawashiro
• Miharu
• Bandai
• Sukagawa
• Shirakawa
• Motomiya
• Otama
• Nihonmatsu

Sendai ← Fukushima ←	N  S	→ Shin-Shirakawa → Tokyo
Fukushima ← Nihonmatsu ←	N  S	→ Sukagawa → Utsunomiya
Niigata ← Aizu-Wakamatsu ←	W  E	→ Iwaki
Fukushima ← Nihonmatsu ←	N  S	→ Sukagawa → Utsunomiya