It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-central Canada to certain areas of southwestern British Columbia.

The American badger's habitat is typified by open grasslands with available prey (such as mice, squirrels, and groundhogs).

The species prefers areas such as prairie regions with sandy loam soils where it can dig more easily for its prey.

The American badger is a member of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals that also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine.

American badgers possess morphological characteristics that enable them to be good fossorial specialists, such as a conical head, bristles on the ears, and nictitating membranes in the eyes.

The mechanical advantage in badger forelimbs is increased by the specialized olecranon process and bones such as the radius and metacarpals.

[14] Except for the head, the American badger is covered with a grizzled, brown, black and white coat of coarse hair or fur, giving almost a mixed brown-tan appearance.

In the subspecies T. t. berlandieri, the white head stripe extends the full length of the body, to the base of the tail.

It preys predominantly on pocket gophers (Geomyidae), ground squirrels (Spermophilus), moles (Talpidae), marmots (Marmota), prairie dogs (Cynomys), pika (Ochotona), woodrats (Neotoma), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys), deer mice (Peromyscus), and voles (Microtus), often digging to pursue prey into their dens, and sometimes plugging tunnel entrances with objects.

[17] They also prey on ground-nesting birds, such as the bank swallow, or sand martin (Riparia riparia), and the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, skunks (Mephitis and Spilogale), insects (including bees and honeycomb), and some plant foods, such as corn (Zea mais), peas, green beans, mushrooms and other fungi, and sunflower seeds (Helianthus).

[citation needed] American badgers are generally nocturnal; however, in remote areas with no human encroachment they are routinely observed foraging during the day.

[7] As a fossorial mammal, the American badger uses a scratch-digging process where the forelimbs are withdrawn to break the soil and move the debris behind or to the sides of its body [9] An abandoned badger burrow may be occupied by mammals of similar size, such as foxes and skunks, as well as animals as diverse as the burrowing owl, tiger salamander and California red-legged frog.

[29] In Ontario it primarily resides on the extreme southwestern portion of the province, restricted to the north shore of Lake Erie in open areas generally associated with agriculture and along woodland edges.

[32] Estimated density of American badgers in Utah scrub-steppe was one per square mile (2.6 km2), with 10 dens in active or recent use.

American badgers are most commonly found in treeless areas, including tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, grass-dominated meadows and fields within forested habitats, and shrub-steppe communities.

In the Southwest, plant indicators of the Sonoran and Transition life zones (relatively low, dry elevations) commonly associated with American badgers include creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), junipers (Juniperus spp.

[29] American badgers require cover for sleep, concealment, protection from weather, and natal denning.

A female American Badger may create 2 to 4 burrows in proximity with a connecting tunnel for concealment and safety for her young.

[7] Natal dens are dug by the female and are used for extended periods, but litters may be moved, probably to allow the mother to forage in new areas close to the nursery.

Predation on juvenile specimens by golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), coyotes (Canis latrans)[7] and bobcats (Lynx rufus)[36] has been reported.

and gray wolves (Canis lupus) occasionally kill adult American badgers,[21] while cougars (Puma concolor), according to a 2019 study, apparently are the main predators of adults, hunting them much more frequently than the other carnivorans, with a documented case where the badger is one of the main prey of a radio-collared cougar.

[39] The subspecies T. t. jeffersonii, which resides in British Columbia,[40] was subsequently divided into two populations, a western one in the Okanagan Valley-Cariboo region[41] and an eastern one in East Kootenay,[42] with each receiving an endangered listing.