Overall the long-tailed marmot has a very wide altitude range, occurring from , but this varies extensively depending on each mountain range with the upper limit essentially restricted by the location of the permanent snow line. The only countries where it has been recorded below are Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but in both places it also occurs much higher. It is more tolerant of aridity than the closely related Menzbier's marmot and the more distantly related grey marmot, and where their distributions approach each other the long-tailed marmot tends to occupy drier habitats. Furthermore, where its distribution approaches that of the Menzbier's marmot the long-tailed occurs at lower altitudes from . The long-tailed marmot occurs in a wide range of open or lightly wooded habitats, including alpine meadows, foothill to highland steppes, semi-deserts, scrublands and open woodland (typically with junipers no more than high), especially in rocky areas. However, it avoids places with saline soils.