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) [XC317868]
by id from Harmony (near Panama), Chautauqua County, New York. Watts Flats Wildlife management Area, United States (alarm call, flight call)
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) [XC74430]
by Mike Nelson from Milwaukee River Floodplain Forest State Natural Area, Washington County, Wisconsin, United States (call, display calls)
Subspecies
Hybridization with other species of Mergus reported rarely in captivity.