Warley was a county borough formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the towns of Oldbury and Rowley Regis. The Tividale area of Tipton and a tiny fragment of Dudley also became part of Warley. All of the borough was in Staffordshire except for Oldbury which was in Worcestershire, so the ceremonial county boundaries changed to include the whole borough in Worcestershire. Warley took its name from Warley Woods in Oldbury.

On the formation of the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974, the county borough of Warley merged with the county borough of West Bromwich to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.

Famous people from Warley include the comedian Frank Skinner, the actress Julie Walters and Christine McVie who was a member of Fleetwood Mac.