Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B).
Vagrant to Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), Virgin Islands (U.S.).
South-eastern Alaska south to Oregon; south-eastern Canada south to Mississippi valley.
 
Population
Estimated population is 270,000 - 390,000 (2010).
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) [XC168492]
by Russ Wigh from Savannah, Chatham, Georgia, United States (call, vocalization uttered by males only challenging one another prior to)
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) [XC142587]
by Ian Cruickshank from Seney NWR, Schoolcraft, Michigan, United States (alarm call)
Subspecies
Hybridization with other species of Mergus reported rarely in captivity.