Favouring mountain forests, it is found throughout Central, Southeast, and East Asia, from Afghanistan to Taiwan.

Previously, Hodgson's bat was thought to be a single wide-ranging species with a distribution from Central Asia east to Taiwan, north to Korea, and south to Indonesia.

[7] The colouring of the short dense fur that covers its body is much more yellow than is that of other bats found within its range.

[6] Hodgson's bat is native to Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan, the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, the Indian provinces of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Mizoram, and the Central and Western parts of Nepal at altitudes up to about 3,000 metres (9,800 ft).

[1] Hodgson's bat is an insectivore, locating its insect prey by echolocation during flight and catching it on the wing.

Prior to this, the bats spend an average of nine hours foraging at night, but this time is reduced after giving birth.

This prominent decline, combined with it still being a wide-ranging species, has led it to be classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.