Nelson's kangaroo rat is endemic to the Mexican Altiplano, a large upland area between the mountain ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. Its typical habitat is rolling grassland or semiarid areas with scattered trees and shrubs such as Acacia, Prosopis juliflora, Larrea tridentata, Fouquieria splendens, cactus, Yucca and Agave.