Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Stockton, CA
In Stockton-Lodi, CA, 5 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $10.39 to $423.00, with a median of $229.91. The lowest listed price is at St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton — $219.52 less than the median here. Across California, the median is $133.00 at 193 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 3 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 29, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Apr 2, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Stockton-Lodi, CA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton lowest Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 RL-A-MC NOC 60093 File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $10.39 | $35.31 | $7.33–$50.47 | 71% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA RL-A-MC HPYL 2006686A File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $11.75 | $20.57 | $2.06–$17.08 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA SJM-CULT BODY FLUID File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $14.28 | $25.00 | $2.50–$20.75 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA RL-A-MC NOC 60093 File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $20.17 | $35.31 | $3.54–$29.31 | 43% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 CULT BONE MARROW File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $70.56 | $240.00 | $7.33–$196.80 | 71% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 SJM-CULT CSF File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $77.91 | $265.00 | $7.33–$217.30 | 71% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 CULT RESPIRATORY File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $79.68 | $271.00 | $7.33–$222.22 | 71% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA SJM-CULT DIALYSIS File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $98.79 | $173.00 | $8.62–$138.40 | 43% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 BM-CULT GENITAL File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $144.65 | $492.00 | $7.33–$403.44 | 71% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 CULT GASTRIC File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $147.30 | $501.00 | $7.33–$410.82 | 71% |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CA · (209) 943-2000 CULT BODY FLUID File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $150.24 | $511.00 | $7.33–$419.02 | 71% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA CULT RESPIRATORY File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $152.46 | $267.00 | $8.62–$213.60 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA SJM-CULT CSF File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $174.16 | $305.00 | $8.62–$244.00 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA SJM-CULT THROAT File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $191.86 | $336.00 | $8.62–$268.80 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA SJM-CULT CATHETER TIP File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $222.69 | $390.00 | $8.62–$312.00 | 43% |
| Dameron Hospital Stockton, CA · (209) 944-5550 Bacterial culture, any other source except urine, blood or stool, aerobic File of Apr 2, 2026 · source file | $229.91 | $510.92 | $6.90–$510.41 | 55% |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Manteca Manteca, CA · (209) 825-3700 CUL BACT XCPT URINE BLOOD/STOOL AEROBIC ISOL source file | $254.80 | $455.00 | $8.00–$25.00 | 44% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA BM-CULT GENITAL File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $271.23 | $475.00 | $8.62–$380.00 | 43% |
| St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton, CA CULT GASTRIC File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $287.79 | $504.00 | $8.62–$403.20 | 43% |
| Sutter Tracy Community Hospital Tracy, CA · (209) 835-1500 HCHG CORE CULT BODY FLUID+9 more lines at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $423.00 | $423.00 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $10.39, median $229.91, highest $423.00 — a 40.7× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $133.28. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 3 of 4 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
A bacterial culture grows bacteria from a sample such as a wound, throat swab, eye or fluid to find which germ causes an infection. It takes one to three days.
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test; collecting the sample may be billed separately.
2 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87070 ($91.03). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Hospital | Cash price | File |
|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CARL-A-MC HPYL 2006686A | $6.05 | file |
| St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton Stockton, CASJM-CULT BODY FLUID | $6.47 | file |