Rheology enters in some form into almost every study of material properties, and many physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists and mathematicians find a common meeting ground in The Society's meetings and publications. It is a small society compared to many others, membership currently being about 1,700. The membership represents a wide spectrum of individuals from academic, industrial, and governmental institutions whose activities include both phenomenological and molecular theories, instrumentation, the study of many types of materials such as polymers, metals, petroleum products, rubber, paint, printing ink, ceramics and glass, foods, biological materials, floor preparations and cosmetics, and a wide range of practical applications.

The Society of Rheology is one of the five founding members of the American Institute of Physics. By virtue of this affiliation, all Members of The Society receive the Institute's monthly publication Physics Today without extra charge, and join with other physicists in sponsoring the many general activities of the Institute including publication, translation, manpower studies, and projects on the history of physics. The Society is also affiliated with the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The Society is also a member of the International Committee on Rheology, which organizes the International Congress on Rheology, held every four years.