His father, Arthur Edler von Mises, worked for the Austrian State Railways as a technical expert and his mother was Adele von Landau. Richard was the second son of the family, the elder son being Ludwig von Mises who went on to become as famous as Richard. Ludwig, who was about eighteen months older than Richard, went on to become an economist who contributed to liberalism in economic theory and made his belief in consumer power an important part of that theory. Richard also had a younger brother, who died as an infant.
Kanyang ama, Arthur Edler von Mises, nagtrabaho para sa Austrian State Railways bilang isang teknikal na eksperto at ang kanyang ina ay Adele von Landau. Richard ay ang pangalawang anak na lalaki ng pamilya, ang anak na lalaki matanda na Ludwig von Mises na nagpunta sa bilang na maging kilalang-kilala bilang Richard. Ludwig, na noon ay tungkol sa labing-walo buwan mas matanda kaysa sa Richard, pumunta sa na maging isang ekonomista na nag-ambag sa liberalismo sa pang-ekonomiyang teorya at ginawa ang kanyang paniniwala sa mga mamimili ang kapangyarihan ng isang mahalagang bahagi ng teorya na. Richard din ay may isang batang lalaki, na namatay bilang isang sanggol.