Today Messel is an independent place with about 4000 inhabitants 12 km northeast of Darmstadt. A district is called Grube Messel and had developed differently historically. Messel has an elementary school and two kindergartens, a train station which is on the Darmstadt/Aschaffenburg route and a bus connection (RMV F/U-Bus), a sports hall and an industrial area in the district Grube Messel. The village is essentially oriented towards Darmstadt. In the past it lived mainly from farming, but today it has few small companies and is mainly a place to sleep for people who work in the vicinity.