The purple-throated carib is resident on Antigua, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Sint Eustatius. It has occurred as a vagrant in Barbados, Barbuda, Grenada and the Greater Antilles. It inhabits the interior and edges of primary and secondary forest, mostly at elevations between 800 and 1,200 m (2,600 and 3,900 ft).