Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic inflammatory disorder characterized with inflammatory synovitis. Due to its short biological half-life and poor bioavailability, the traditional clinical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis requires patients to have a high dosage and a frequent administration, with serious side effects in extra-articular tissues brought about by these therapeutic medications. These limitations have stimulated the research and application of nanomaterials in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A summary has been drawn of the latest research progress in nanomedicine-based drug therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, followed by a description of various targeted drug delivery systems for the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. On this basis, a tentative inquiry has also been made into the key problems to be solved with its future development prospects.