Middendorf's vole occurs in northern Asian high latitudes and mountain systems. A 2025 study reported it in high-mountain steppe and tundra in the southern Eastern Sayan.
The Eastern Sayan specimens studied had a brownish-red back and an ash-gray underside. Their tails were bicolored and no longer than one quarter of the body length.
The species was reported from high-mountain steppe and tundra in the southern Eastern Sayan, across Russian and Mongolian territory.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.