The meadow jumping mouse has hind legs much longer than the front legs and a tapered tail that is nearly twice as long as the combined length of the head and body. The coarse fur is yellowish brown above, darkest along the middle of the back, paler along the sides, and white to yellowish-brown below. The meadow jumping mouse is the most widely distributed mouse in the family Zapodidae. Its range extends from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Great Plains west, and from the arctic tree lines in Canada and Alaska to the north, and Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, and New Mexico to the south. They are recognized by their very long tails and their long hind feet. They are small and slender and contrast with Woodland jumping mice because their tail is not white-tipped tail and they are typically duller in color.

Meadow Jumping Mice prefer open-grassy fields, but also use hayfields, shrubby fields, fence rows, and edges of woods. They are frequently found in moist areas or near water. They live in a range of habitats that have herbaceous cover, but they favor moist grassland, avoid heavily wooded areas, and are numerous in grassy fields and thick areas of vegetation bordering streams, marshes or ponds. They seem to prefer habitats that have high humidity. Grassy fields and thick vegetated areas bordering streams, ponds, or marshes generally support greater numbers. The meadow jumping mouse builds nests of plant fibers, in clumps of grass, within the bases of hollow trees, in and under hollow logs.