Lonchophylla inexpectata is endemic to the Caatinga, and has been recorded in the Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Bahia (Moratelli and Dias 2015).

The red list of the IUCN ver. 3.1 has not yet evaluated the extinction risk of Lonchophylla inexpectata. The species was not included in the official list of threatened species of Brazil (ICMBIO-MMA 2016). Confirmed specimens of Lonchophylla inexpectata are currently known from only three localities. Although an exhaustive revision of specimens housed in zoological collections might reveal a higher number of localities for the species, a provisional conservation status denoting some risk of extinction seems a sensible action considering the extremely low number of confirmed localities, particularly considering trends of habitat loss in the Caatinga (Albuquerque et al. 2012).