Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada (B), Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica (NB), Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB).
Vagrant to Grenada, United Kingdom.
Breeds in Canada (from south-western Northwest Territories and north-eastern British Columbia east to southern Newfoundland and Nova Scotia) and north-eastern USA (eastern Minnesota and central Wisconsin east to northern New England). Migrates primarily to Caribbean (mainly Greater Antilles), also Bermuda.
 
Population
Estimated population is 3,000,000 (2010).
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) [XC821708]
by Stanislas Wroza from Ensign Township (near Ensign), Delta County, Michigan, United States (call, tsip calls in series)
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) [XC394039]
by Paul Marvin from Secaucus, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
May be most closely related to Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) and Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea), but precise relationships unclear. Hybridization with Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) reported. Reported hybrid between Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) and Seiurus noveboracensis now thought probably to have involved Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina), rather than Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata). Bird described in early 19th century as Helinaia carbonata ("Carbonated Warbler") may have been a hybrid of this species with Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata), but generally considered to be a first-summer male of Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina).