Habitats include open grassland, prairie, woodland edge, open woodland, oak savannas, longleaf pine flatwoods, scrubby areas, fallow fields, and areas near streams and ponds, often in habitats with sandy soil. This species often appears on roads in spring. During inactivity, it occurs in underground burrows. In Kansas, slender glass lizards were scarce in heavily grazed pastures, increased as grass increased with removal of grazing, and declined as brush and trees replaced grass (Fitch 1989). Eggs are laid underground, under cover, or under grass clumps (Ashton and Ashton 1985); in cavities beneath flat rocks or in abandoned tunnels of small mammals (Scalopus, Microtus) (Fitch 1989).

This species is endemic to the United States. The eastern segment of the range (subspecies longicaudus) encompasses the southeastern United States, from Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast and southern Florida, east of the Mississippi River; the western part of the range (subspecies attentuatus) extends from southeastern Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana south to the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, west of the Mississippi River in the south (Conant and Collins 1991).

This species occurs in many protected areas.