It is native to North America, where it is widespread across much of Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

It grows from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south as far as Sonora, Coahuila, Texas, and Mississippi.

During the Dust Bowl-era drought, when many of the native grasses and plants died, the goldenrod flourished in the dry, cleared soil.

It grows in soils turned over by burrowing animals and on roadsides and mining sites.

[3] The goldenrod is common in a number of regions, including tallgrass prairie in west-central Missouri, sandhills prairie in southeastern North Dakota, the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta, riparian habitat in northwestern Montana, and the penang distribey of northern Wisconsin.