Topographically, Northill stands on a slightly elevated ridge that runs north to south. The village lies on the border of the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands and the Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge; National Character Areas designated by Natural England. Central Bedfordshire Council has classified the local landscape around the village as within the Mid Greensand Ridge. The surrounding area is mostly arable farmland but there are significant areas of woodland to the west of the village, and parkland at Ickwell. The north and east of the parish form part of the predominantly flat, Lower Ivel Clay Valley.