Its range includes Bolivia, Brazil and Peru to the east of the Andes, in lowland tropical rainforest as well as forest in the eastern foothills of the mountains, at elevations from 50 to 2,000 m (200 to 6,600 ft).

[3] The main population of E. nitidus is in the Andean foothills of Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil and adjoining lowlands.

However outlying individuals have been identified at scattered locations in south-central Brazil, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.

In the upper Amazon basin, this species shares its range with the closely related Euryoryzomys macconnelli.

[3] It is also present in the foothills of an isolated massif in Mato Grosso do Sul on the western border of the Pantanal.