Carex tincta is known, at least historically, from eastern New York along the border with Massachusetts and Connecticut, and from one population in northern New York.

Carex tincta is common in parts of New England but is considered rare and local throughout most of the rest of its range. It occurs from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick west to Quebec, Ontario, and Wisconsin south to Illinois, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts (Mackenzie 1931-1935, Mastrogiuseppe et al. 2002, New York Natural Heritage Program 2006). Flora North America (Mastrogiuseppe et al. 2002) notes that the Alberta specimens noted by Mackenzie (1931-1935) were misidentified. Mackenzie (1931-1935) and Mastrogiuseppe et al. (2002) do not mention New York as being part of the range of C. tincta but Mackenzie annotated a specimen of C. tincta collected in New York and deposited at the New York State Museum (New York Natural Heritage Program 2006).