The northernmost border of the range of A. townsendi is the Channel Islands, CA. The southern range border is Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico. The only current breeding area is on Guadalupe Island, 290 km west of Baja California. The Guadalupe fur seal is the rarest of the fur seals, and it is also the only species of Arctocephalus found in the Northern Hemisphere. They have also been sighted as far south as Puerto Gurrero, near the Mexico/Guatemala border, as far north as the Point Reyes National Seashore in California, and possibly in the Gulf of California. It is possible that the true range of the species is underestimated due to the rarity of sightings.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )