It is native to the Eastern United States, particularly the Piedmont Plateau and the outlying lower mountainous elevations of the Appalachians and inner, western portion of the Atlantic coastal plain.

The males of each of the three species share a highly similar mating call, characterized by a crescendo of continuous pulsation.

A characteristic that can distinguish N. winnemanna from the other two similar-sounding scissor grinder cicadas is its range; N. winnemanna occupies a swath of land roughly approximating the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York in the north to northern Georgia and central Alabama to the south.

[1][6] The call of N. winnemanna males itself is characterized by a loud, pulsating buzz lasting about twenty seconds per call with between one and two pulsations per second of alternating pitch interspersed and at a frequency that gradually crescendos until tapering off into a low, soft buzz.

[1] Neotibicen winnemanna is typically distinct from Neotibicen linnei, Linne's cicada, the range of which overlaps somewhat with that of N. winnemanna, though Reynolds (2008) speculates that some of the physical characteristics of N. linnei, such as its bowing of the costae (the leading edges of its wings) and elongation of the opercula (the covers on its underside of its tympanae, or eardrums), are similar to those of N. winnemanna on account of possible hybridization between the species.