Blue-and-gold Tanager is nearly endemic to the Central American countries Costa Rica and Panama; the distribution becomes more localized in eastern Panama, and there apparently is a population in extreme northwestern Colombia on the east side of Cerro Tacarcuna, in Acandí (Hilty 2011). This tanager is distributed within elevations of 300-1200 m (Isler and Isler 1987). The center of elevational abundance is in the Hill Tropical Zone (Parker et al. 1996). This species occurs in the Chiriquí-Darién Highlands zoogeographic region (Parker et al. 1996).

Blue-and-gold Tanager is endemic to the Americas.

Blue-and-gold Tanager typically stays high in the forest canopy (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989). They inhabit humid and wet forests and forest edges (Isler and Isler,1987). Parker et al. (1996) list the primary habitat as Tropical Lowland Evergreen Forest. Additional habitats used by this species include the Montane Evergreen Forest.

The distribution of the Blue-and-gold Tanager becomes spotty and localized as it approaches central Panama and eastward. There have been few if any recent reports of this bird from the Cerro Jefe area (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989), which raises a red flag about the persistence of this population.

None reported.