The US Fish and Wildlife Service Draft Recovery Plan for the species published in August 2004 estimates roughly 1000 individuals are present in the wild.

[4] In 2010, a five-year summary report by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service found the population to be essentially unchanged.

[citation needed] Known populations of Hungerford's crawling water beetles are limited to cold-water streams in only seven locations.

Almost all known Hungerford's crawling water beetles live in a single location: the East Branch of the Maple River in Emmet County, Michigan.

[4] In Montmorency County, Michigan two more sites have yielded official records of Hungerford's crawling water beetles.

The Carp Lake River and Van Hetton Creek identifications were significant as they represented a new location beyond those originally identified when the Hungerford's crawling water beetle was categorized as endangered in 1994.

[8]: 15  As a result, the status of this population of Hungerford's crawling water beetles in the North Saugeen is uncertain at present.

It is believed that the Hungerford's crawling water beetle requires cool (15–25 °C or 59–77 °F), swift flowing alkaline streams with sand and gravel bottoms.