The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico.

The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Phillip Parker King, an Australian-born Royal Navy officer who surveyed the coast of South America.

[3] E. kingii is found from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, United States, southward to Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, southeastern Zacatecas, and southwestern Aguascalientes, Mexico.

E. kingii is found in a variety of habitats including desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest.

[2] Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Elgaria.