Lauta lies about 2 kilometres northwest of Marienberg in the Ore Mountains. Southwest of Lauta lies the sea level (NN) high Dreibrüderhöhe, southeast of the village is the NN high Lautaer Höhe.Until the opening of the Marienberg ring road in 2007 the B 174 federal road from Chemnitz to Reitzenhain passed through the village. Since then it has run past Lauta to the north and east. There is a road to Lauterbach, the Kreisstraße 8131.