State department spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed that Mr Fowle was on his way home on Tuesday following negotiations.
She said the US was working to secure the release of two other US nationals, Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae, who remain in detention in North Korea.
The US has accused North Korea of using the detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
Mr Fowle, 56, entered North Korea on 29 April and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country. He was charged with "anti-state" crimes.
He was reported to have left a Bible in the toilet of a restaurant in the northern port city of Chongjin but his family have insisted that he was not on a mission for his church.
Missionary activity is considered a crime in North Korea.
In August, he and fellow detainee Matthew Miller made a televised appeal to the US government to help secure their release.
Responding to the appeal, the US authorities vowed to make securing the release of the detainees a "top priority".
Mr Miller was later sentenced to six years' hard labour for committing "hostile acts".
The state department's Marie Harf said Washington welcomed Mr Fowle's release, adding that US officials "remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and again call on the DPRK [North Korea] to immediately release them".
She said North Korea had asked the US government to transport Jeffrey Fowle out of the country as a condition of his release.
She also thanked Sweden, which serves as the US protecting power in North Korea, for the "tireless efforts" of its embassy in Pyongyang.
No reason was given for Mr Fowle's release.
Washington has been trying to send high-level representatives to negotiate the detainees' release, but these visits have been cancelled by North Korea in recent months.
Pyongyang has denied accusations that it is using the arrested Americans as diplomatic bargaining chips.

Normally, clocks are put forward an hour on the last Sunday in March, and then put back an hour on the last Sunday in October.
In 2016, summer time will last from 27 March to 30 October.
During that time, we move our clocks forward by an hour - so, if you normally get up at 8am, it will feel like 7am.
The change is called 'daylight saving', and the idea is to make the most of natural daylight, by arranging for the hours of the day when we do the most things to happen when it's light.
Starting the day earlier means that mornings are darker, but it stays light for longer in the evenings.
It was first done in the UK in 1916 - 100 years ago - during the First World War.
The aim was to save fuel, and give people more time to work in the fields.
Now, some people think that we should have British Summer Time all year round.
Jeffrey Fowle, one of three US citizens detained in North Korea, has been released, US officials say.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
At 1am on Easter Sunday, the clocks moved forward by one hour, marking the start of British Summer Time.